The London Agreement applies to European patents for which the reference to the issue is published in the European Patent Bulletin after the agreement for the State concerned comes into force (see Article 9). The new translation regime therefore applies to states that have ratified or acceded to the London Agreement to all European patents for which the mention of the issue was published in the European Patent Bulletin on 1 May 2008. For Albania, Lithuania and Northern Macedonia (formerly the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”), the London agreement has no impact on the existing translation regime. Of the countries that have joined the agreement, the following six do not need a translation of the European patent: this agreement was signed by ten countries, namely Denmark, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. To enter into force, ratification instruments had to be tabled by at least eight countries, including at least France, Germany and the United Kingdom. So far, Monaco, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Denmark and France have tabled their ratification instruments on the London Agreement, while Slovenia, Iceland, Latvia and Croatia have tabled their accession instruments (accession will also be taken into account when the agreement enters into force). Sweden was ratified on 29 April 2008. [28] The agreement on the application of Article 65 CBE – the London Agreement – is an optional agreement to reduce the cost of translating European patents. It is the result of long-standing efforts to establish a cost-effective post-issue translation system, which began in the 1990s as part of the European Patent Organization and was revived at the Intergovernmental Conference held in Paris on 24 and 25 June 1999 (see JO L 347 of 31.12.1999 , p. 1). 1999, 545). It ended at the Intergovernmental Conference in London on 17 October 2000 (see JO C 201 of 17.12.2000, p. 1).
2001, 549). For European patents issued on 1 May 2008 or after 1 May 2008, translation requirements for countries that have ratified the agreement are defined as follows: the agreement is the result of a process that took place at the Paris Conference from 24 to 25 June 1999, the intergovernmental conference of the Member States of the European Patent Organisation , held in Paris at the invitation of the French government, was launched. [25] The Conference adopted a mandate for the creation of two working groups to report on reducing the costs of European patents and harmonizing patent disputes to the governments of contracting states. [25] The first working group eventually reached the London Agreement, while the second resulted in the proposal for an agreement on European patents.