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FEBRUARY 2008
LONDON AGREEMENT NOW IN FORCE IN THE UK
The
London Agreement concerning translations of European Patents will come into
force on 1
May 2008. This will
lead to significant cost reductions for the proprietors of European patents.
The
UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) has now clarified the transitional
provisions concerning the date on which the London Agreement will take effect
in the UK.
According
to the UK-IPO, whilst in most countries the change will take effect for patents
granted after 1 May 2008:
“UK legislation was implemented without a similar
transitional provision, thus providing additional benefit to patent
proprietors
by allowing them to take advantage of the existing three-month period
for
filing translations. This means that any EP(UK) granted on or after 1
February 2008 and therefore having a three month prescribed period for
filing a translation expiring on or after 1 May 2008 will not require a
translation to be filed.”
With
this interpretation, the UK-IPO has confirmed that the London Agreement has
taken effect in the UK for European Patents granted on or after 1 February
2008.
TRANSITIONAL
PROVISIONS
The
reasoning behind the early application of the London Agreement in the
UK is not straightforward. In essence, the implementation in UK law
does not explicitly state that the London Agreement
applies to patents granted on or after 1 May 2008. Instead, the
relevant section of the UK patents act (s77(6)) that requires a
translation into
English to be filed (for patents published in French or German) ceases
to have
effect on 1 May 2008. With that section of law ceasing on 1 May 2008,
UK law will then state (s77(1)) that a European patent (UK) shall be
treated as if it were a UK patent – without the
requirement for a translation. An unusual implementation of the new law
!
EXTENSIONS
AS OF RIGHT
The
UK-IPO has also confirmed that extensions for filing a translation are
available as of right for European Patents granted between 1 December
2007 and 31 January
2008, taking the deadline
for filing a translation to on or after 1 May 2008 so that no translation becomes necessary. According to the
UK-IPO:
”A two month extension to the period may be requested under rule 108(2). A
two month extension requested before 30 April 2008 will be automatically allowed as usual. If the extended
period will expire on or later than 1 May 2008 a translation will not need to be filed for the patent
to come into force.”
We will therefore be able to record ourselves as
address for service for any European Patents granted after 1 December 2007 without needing to prepare and file an English
language translation of the specification.
All we require from you to record an address for service in the UK is a copy of the
decision to grant (or decision to maintain).
If
you have any queries regarding this press release or require any other
information about us please contact your usual Reddie & Grose contact or
email
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