On May 1, 2008, the London Agreement on the application of Art. 65 of the European Patent Convention entered into force.

Up to now, applicants that were granted a European patent by the European Patent Office were obliged to translate the description as well as the claims of the European patent into the national language of every country in which they sought to register it. Thanks to the London Agreement, states having a national language in common with one of the official languages of the EPO - French, German, English - have dispensed entirely with this translation requirement, i.e. the translation of the specification. States that do not have a national language in common with one of the official languages of the EPO only have the right to require a translation of the claims of the patent into one of their official languages. However, for these countries it is not necessary any longer to translate the whole specification, if the patent is granted in or translated into an official language of the EPO prescribed by that state.

The London Agreement implies a significant reduction in translation costs for applicants wanting to obtain a European patent for several European states. However, it must be kept in mind that, currently, it is only applicable in 13 members of the European Patent Organization.

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