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Patent Attorney Axel H Horns' Blog on Intellectual Property Law.

 

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

 

London Agreement: France To Deposit Instrument Of Ratification This Week?

There are unconfirmed off-line reports saying that France will deposit the Instrument of Ratification for the EXTERNAL LINKLondon Agreement with the German Government later this week but most probably before February 01. If this is true, the Agreement will enter into force on May 01, 2008.

An interesting EXTERNAL LINKFICPI Draft submission paper on EXTERNAL LINKThe Practical Consequences of the London Agreement (EXCO/ES07/CET/1404) dated October 30, 2007, has been published EXTERNAL LINKon their website. According to FICPI,
  1. The London Agreement will reduce costs of the patentee for validating European patents;
  2. The London Agreement will not facilitate or improve (European) companies' access to the European patent system;
  3. The reduction of validation costs by the London Agreement will lead to an enhanced filing of the companies which already make use of the European patent system;
  4. The reduction of validation costs by the London Agreement will lead to an enhanced validation of European patents, especially of non-residents of US, JP, KR and CN;
  5. The London Agreement will lead to a significantly reduced risk for the patentee with respect to translation costs;
  6. The London Agreement will lead to an improved position for the patentee when enforcing the patent, because he can adapt and shape the translation of the European patent (within the originally granted wording of the claim) to the infringement issue;
  7. The London Agreement will lead to a shift in the balance of the European patent system or to a weakening of the enforceability of the European
    patent;
  8. The London Agreement will have an impact on the technological dependency from foreign countries;
  9. The London Agreement could lead to higher national maintenance fees (annuities) to compensate the loss of ncome of NPOs due to the discontinuation of publication of translation of European patents validated in that Member State;
  10. The London Agreement could lead to an artificial splitting of the Common Market of the European Union, because not all EU Member States will join the London Agreement
  11. The London Agreement will lead to constitutional problems in many EPC Member Countries;
  12. The London Agreement could lead to a significant reduction in local patent knowledge in many Member States of the London Agreement, both at the NPOs and as far as local patent attorneys are concerned; and
  13. The London Agreement could lead to further criticism against the patent system in Europe.
Well, time will tell us as to whether or not some of such concerns really will materialise.

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And what about Austria ??!! I can't understand why the German are not pushing the Austrian to ratify the London agreement !!

This agreement is a micro-agreement, with very little consequences. Translations in most languages will still be needed.
 
INTERNAL LINK# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 29 January, 2008 21:11
 

 

 

Um... er.. did you ever try to push the Austrian?

Setting any jokes aside: The Austrian Government does not support the idea of abandoning the requirement of a full translation, and Austrian translators (and patent attorneys, too) appear to be quite happy with that situation.

The members of the playfully so-called "Club Méditerranée" (i.e. most, if not all of the Mediterranean States except France) won't join the London Agreement in any foreseeable future anyway.

But perhaps some countries from eastern Europe might consider to accede.

The list of members of the London Club is maintained by the EPO here:

http://tinyurl.com/2hcuxe
 
INTERNAL LINK# posted by Blogger Axel H Horns : 29 January, 2008 21:33
 

 

 

London and the Law of Unintended Consequences. From now on, it will be increasingly common EPO Applicant behaviour, to abandon at grant all "translation countries". If Applicant narrows down at grant to DE, FR, GB his patent budget is going to go a lot further in future than it has up to now. And who ever enforces a patent south of the Alps anyway?
 
INTERNAL LINK# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 30 January, 2008 08:05
 

 

 

This is very good news, especially for SMEs. We've heard time and again from our small business members that the translation costs associated with obtaining a European patent are a real problem for them. Cutting these costs will no doubt increase the incentives for small firms with limited budgets to apply for a European patent.

A while ago, I did a blog post (http://blog.actonline.org/2007/08/on-june-8-alain.html) on ex-EPO President Alain Pompidou's speech on the European patent system, in which he predicted - correctly, as it turns out - that the London Agreement would be adopted by France within the next six months.

Pompidou also said that he believes the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA) will be adopted within the next three to five years.

Let's hope that Pompidou's predictions regarding the EPLA will be as spot-on as his predictions regarding the London Agreement!
 
INTERNAL LINK# posted by Anonymous Nora von Ingersleben, Association for Competitive Technology : 31 January, 2008 17:49
 
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