For the first time in 60 years, ministers have agreed on the 'languages regime for the European patent - essentially, the number of translations that applicants need to file in order to obtain their patent. Agreement was also reached on the technical details of the patent itself.Currently, businesses seeking Europe-wide patent protection can either apply for national patents in each country separately or they can apply to the European Patent Office (EPO) for a European Patent under the European Patent Convention (EPC). These European Patents are bundles of national patents which must be litigated in each state and, in most cases, be translated into each national language.
展开▼
