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In January, we reported on a big breakthrough in negotiations on adopting a European-wide patent that would have big ramifications for many of our clients and for the translation industry as a whole. Under the current patent system, after the EPO grants a patent, the holder is still required to translate the patent into the official languages of most EU member states where they want the patent validated. Several countries (including France and Germany) have waved this requirement and others (including Denmark and Sweden) only require a translation of the patent’s claims. Still, the European Commission estimates that validating a European patent in 13 EU countries costs about $26,000, of which $18,000 is spent on patent translations. Compare that to the far lower cost of $2,400 to file a patent in the United States.
We kicked off this month by attending the LegalTech 2010 Conference at the New York Hilton for the very first time! With over 13,000 litigation support specialists, attorneys, and paralegals, LegalTech was a great opportunity to get some face time with the legal community at large, including those in need of legal translations from translation companies.
This past December, the European Union took a major step towards creating a single Europe-wide patent system, which has been a goal of European ministers and patent officials for many years. Currently, the European Patent Office (EPO) does grant European patents, but these patents must still be converted into national patents in each of EU designated states, which is both expensive and laborious. The EU patent would solve this problem, and provide patent rights that are consistent across Europe.