The Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys has said
that the move could cut the average cost of a European patent for
small and medium-sized companies by €7,000.
The Agreement is designed to cut the cost of translating
patents. It does away with the need to have an entire patent
application translated into the language of every country in which
the applicant wants it to take effect.
Countries where English, French and German is not the native
tongue will choose one of these to be their language of patents. As
long as the patent is available in that language, the patent holder
will not have to translate it into the official language of that
country.
For countries where English, French or German is the official
language the patent holder will not have to produce a translation
as long as the patent is in one of those three languages. The short
patent claim which outlines the scope of the patent will have to be
produced in all three languages, though.
“Businesses here will no longer be put off by the high cost of
getting patent protection throughout Europe," said Robert Weston,
president of the UK Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA).
"France’s decision also means that other member states of the
European Patent Convention that have not ratified the London
Agreement are likely to come under pressure to sign."
When they do, it will mean that a single application, made in
just one language, will give patent protection in a market of over
300 million consumers. This will put Europe in a similar to the
situation for patenting costs that American companies have enjoyed
for decades," he said.
The London Agreement only needs eight countries to sign up to it
in order to come into force, and 11 countries have so far signed.
It could not come into effect without the approval of the UK,
Germany and France, though, so can only now become active.
France's National Assembly last week approved the sing up to the
Agreement. The Senate this week ratified the signing of the
Agreement, which was produced in 2000. It will take six months for
the French decision to take effect.
Previously, a patent holder had to translate a patent into the
official language of a country in order for it to take effect. To
cover all 32 European Patent Office (EPO) countries and their 22
languages would cost €30,000, said CIPA. The average patent was
applied in seven countries at a cost of €7,000, it said.
"This is particularly welcome news for small and medium-sized
businesses, as it will reduce the average cost of getting European
patent protection by more than €7,000," said Weston.
