EPO, EU Presidencies Shift; Translation Plan Proposed

On 1 July, the same day the presidency of the European Patent Office (EPO) transferred to Benoît Battistelli and the EU presidency shifted from Spain to Belgium, the European Commission presented the EPO with a proposal on translation arrangements for patent applications. These arrangements represent the final component for the future EU patent, an enhanced patent system member states agreed to pursue in December 2009, according to an EPO press release. The proposal allows patent applications to be processed in one of the EPO’s three official languages: English, French or German, dropping obligations for translations in other languages. The hoped-for effect of the change is to lower the cost of acquiring a patent in the EU, and allowing European innovators to protect their intellectual property more efficiently. Association for Competitive Technology President Jonathan Zuck said the “proposal to find common working languages for an unified system is a crucial milestone which can revitalise the EU patent dossier.” More information here. The text of the proposal is here [pdf].

By Leslee Friedman for Intellectual Property Watch