Intellectual Property
The patent system in Europe is a complex regulatory landscape that deeply influences innovation and the economic competitiveness of entities operating within the Union. At the heart of this system, we can find two main key concepts: the European patent and the European patent with unitary effect (or unitary patent).
To clarify the fundamental points regarding patents in Europe, we refer to the content of our CEO Domenico Lombardini published in the linguistic magazine Multilingual:
In Italy and other countries in Europe, patents need to be translated in order to be validated. That is, to be valid in the country in question. With the London Agreement (May 1, 2008), a number of countries ratified rules to streamline procedures relating to the translation of European patents. According to this agreement, which is optional for member states of the European Patent Convention, signatories waive their right to require mandatory translation of European patents as a necessary step to validate patents in their country.
The agreement establishes that member states using one of the three official languages of the European Patent Convention (EPO) — namely French, English, and German — no longer require translation into their own language at the time of national validation. The other member states, whose official language is a language other than French, English, or German, have the right to request translation of a European patent into any one of the three official EPO languages of their choosing
With the London Agreement, it is no longer necessary to translate patents filed in Europe for their validation in France, Germany, Luxembourg, Monaco, UK, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. At the same time, in Denmark, Croatia, Iceland, Latvia, Slovenia, the Netherlands, and Sweden, only the claims need to be translated into the national language.
For all other countries, translation of the entire document is mandatory.
European Patent and Unitary Patent in Europe
As reported on the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy‘s page, Unitary Patent does not replace existing patent protection but rather complements it
The European patent is essentially composed of a set of patents granted separately by each member state of the European Patent Convention. This means that the holder of a European patent must enforce their patent right separately in each designated country.
Instead, the unitary patent provides uniform protection in all the states that have adhered to the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court.
At a linguistic level, the main difference between the two systems lies in the fact that, as anticipated, for the European patent, translation of one or more parts of the document into the national language of the state where validity is sought may be required. Always following the linguistic scheme mentioned above.
The unitary patent, on the other hand, requires the drafting of the text in one of the three languages of the Agreement, namely French, German, and English, and the translation of only the claims into the remaining two languages. Additionally, following the grant and until May 30, 2030, if the original document is drafted in English, the patent holder must provide a complete translation of the patent into any of the official EU languages. If the language chosen for the document is French or German, the text must be translated into English.
In conclusion, patent protection in Europe offers various solutions, each more suitable depending on individual cases. To navigate this diverse landscape more effectively, it is always advisable to rely on experienced professionals capable of optimizing costs and time required to achieve different objectives.
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