Patents

As of 1 May 2010 a European patent application can designate any one or more of the following EPC contracting states Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland/Liechtenstein, Turkey, United Kingdom and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and can be extended to cover the following so-called extension states Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro.

In order to file a European application (which application can be filed at the UK Patent Office) and establish a filing date we need the following:

• Full name, address and nationality of applicant(s)
• Full details of the invention or a copy of specification, claims, abstract and drawings to be filed
• Number, country and date of priority application(s)
  (if applicable)

In due course, to complete the filing requirements we will need:

• The EPC contracting states to be designated and the extension states to be included
• Details of the inventor(s) and the applicant's right to apply (e.g. date of an assignment)
• Certified copy of priority document (unless filed at either of the Japanese or US Patent Offices) and verified translation
  (if applicable)
• Formal drawings if not initially provided.

Grant and the London Agreement

On grant, a European patent will become, in effect, a bundle of national patents.  In order for this to happen, some translation may be necessary, depending on which countries patent protection is required in.  The bringing into force of the London Agreement in respect of some contracting states has reduced the translation requirements and costs, but has not dispensed with them altogether.  This is because not all countries have signed up to the London Agreement, and some of those which have signed up have retained a claims-translation requirement.

A translation of the claims into the other two official languages of the European Patent Office (for example into French and German if the application is in English) remains a requirement in order for the patent to proceed to grant.

Thereafter, the translation requirements depend upon the countries that remain of interest.  The following countries require no further translation regardless of the language of the European patent: the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Luxembourg.  The following countries do not require any further translation if the language of the European patent is one of their official languages: Austria, Belgium, Ireland and Malta.  All other contracting and extension states require at least a translation of the claims into their national language, and most also require translation of the description either into their national language or English.