A number of important changes and reforms concerning European patent rights were recently introduced at the European Patent Office and more are forthcoming this year. Some of these changes make it easier to file a European patent application and reduce the costs of bringing a European patent into force.
EPC 2000
The European Patent Convention 2000 (EPC 2000) came into force on 13 December 2007. It is now easier for a European application to be accorded a filing date. The application can be filed in any language and does not have to contain a claim. If an application is filed incompletely, missing parts of the description and drawings can be submitted within one month of an official communication about the missing parts. However, the original filing date of the European patent application may be lost, unless the missing materials are completely contained in any priority document. The ability to claim priority from an earlier filed patent application is extended to patent applications filed in or for any member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). A translation of the priority application will no longer ordinarily be required unless the European Patent Office (EPO) specifically requests it. A defective priority claim can now be rectified up to 14 months after the earliest priority date instead of 12 months, but will incur additional costs. The “further processing” mechanism for remedying a missed deadline is now extended to additional matters.
Other changes have raised the novelty threshold for the patenting of an invention. The “state of the art” includes any earlier filed European patent application that was later published (“a conflicting patent application”) regardless of the contracting states designated. An additional claim format is permitted so that product protection is available for second and further medical uses. There is a new procedure for centrally limiting or revoking a European patent at the EPO at any time during the term of the European patent.
London Agreement
The London Agreement will come into force on 1 May 2008. This agreement will reduce the translation costs of bringing a European patent into force (“validating”) in EPC contracting states that are members of the agreement. In the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, it will no longer be necessary to file a full translation of the European patent specification into the local language. Translations of the claims into English, French and German must still be filed at the European Patent Office to secure grant of the patent. Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and Switzerland, among other countries, are expected to bring the London Agreement into force by 1 May 2008. Once these countries do so, it is expected that a European patent specification in the English language will no longer have to be translated into the local language, although translations of the claims in the local language will be required. Other contracting states of the EPC will likely join the London Agreement in the future.