The official interpretation of the effects of the London Agreement on requirements for the validation of European patents in Croatia has now been established by the Croatian Intellectual Property Office.

The following rules apply in respect of translation requirements:

• A full translation of the patent description and claims is required for European Patents granted with a filing date between 1 April 2004 and 1 January 2008. During that period Croatia was in the regime of extension State. On 1 January 2008, Croatia became a Member State of the EPO and the London agreement shall apply only to those European patents filed after 1 January 2008.

• Translation into Croatian of patent claims (for European patents filed in English) or translation into Croatian of patent claims and full translation into English of patent description and claims (for European Patents filed in foreign languages other than English) will be required for the validation of European patents granted in relation to applications filed before the EPO after 1 January 2008, i.e. after the date on which Croatia became a Member State of the EPO.

Therefore, according to the official interpretation of the effects of the London Agreement on the validation procedure in Croatia, it will only affect validation of those European Patents granted in respect of applications filed before the EPO after 1 January 2008.

For all further information, please contact us at: admin@zm-p.com