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News Archive 2007 |
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French parliament approves London Agreement |
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The London Agreement will enter into force on the first day of the fourth month following deposit of the instrument of ratification.
The London Agreement makes it easier to obtain a European patent - especially for small and medium-sized firms - by reducing post-grant translation costs. Read more.
However, please note that the London Agreement is not mandatory for the EPC member states; the current status of accession and ratification can be found here.
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EPO revokes Amazon’s “Gift Ordering” patent after opposition hearing |
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The contested patent is European Patent EP 0 927 945, granted to Amazon Inc. on 23 April 2003. This patent relates to an invention in the field of computer-implemented inventions (CII). It specifies a method by which a person can purchase a product as a gift and have it shipped based on the e-mail address of the recipient. Based on this e-mail address, the system will then contact the recipient to obtain a valid postal address for shipping. Read more.
Hepp Wenger Ryffel AG represented one of the opponents, Fleurop Interflora European Business Unit.
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Entry into force of EPC 2000 |
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The EPC 2000 enters into force on December 13, 2007.
The revised EPC strengthens applicants' rights: patent applications can be filed in any language, though subsequently a translation has to be submitted in English, French or German. Means of redress are available in case time limits are missed during the examination procedure, and they do not cause any delays in proceedings. The limitation procedure lets proprietors restrict the scope of their patents of their own accord, in central proceedings before the EPO and with effect for all the contracting states.
All 32 current EPC contracting states have now acceded to the new convention, together with Norway and Croatia, which are due to join the European Patent Organisation on 1 January 2008.
Read more.
Please contact our office if you have any questions about the implications of the new European patent convention for your business.
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