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London Agreement
The London Agreement, also known as London Protocol and officially named the Agreement on the application of Article 65 of the Convention on the Grant of European Patents is an optional agreement aiming at reducing the costs relating to the translation of European patents of the European Patent Convention. It has no effect to EPC states that haven't signed it.
Contracting states
The London Agreement entered into force on 1 May 2008, following ratification and accession by 13 EPC contracting states, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. More than half of the EPC contracting states have ratified it.[1]
Summary
- If a country has an official language that matches one of the official languages of the European Patent Office (EPO), they don't need any translations for patents (as required by Article 65(1) of the EPC).[2]
- If a country doesn't have an official language in common with the EPO's languages, they still don't need translations as long as the patent is granted in their official language or translated into it. However, they might ask for a translation of the patent claims into one of their official languages.
