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NEWS - MAY 2008EPO UPDATE: As from 1 May 2008 the requirement to translate a granted European patent into the national language of the countries in which protection is sought is completely removed for countries party to the Agreement having one of the EPO official languages (English, French or German) as a national language (the claims of the granted European patent being available in all of English, French or German). Countries party to the Agreement not having English, French or German as a national language will only require translation of the full patent into their national language in the case that the European patent is not available in the EPO official language selected by that country. A translation of the claims into the national language of these countries is still required. At present 13 states are party to the London Agreement: Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Slovenia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Sweden has also signed the Agreement, but has not yet deposited its instrument of ratification. Significant countries that do not currently intend to become party to the London Agreement include Italy and Spain. Other notable countries that remain outside the Agreement at present include Austria and Belgium. For these countries, as in all states not party to the Agreement, full translations of the European patent continue to be required for validation. More information may be found at: |