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Albania accedes to the European Patent Convention
03/03/2010
Albania accedes to the European Patent Convention
The European Patent Office has announced that Albania acceded to the European Patent Convention on 11 February 2010. The EPC will enter into force for Albania on 1 May 2010.
The European Patent Organisation will thus comprise the following 37 member states from 1 May 2010:
Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom.
The EPO has advised that European patent applications filed on or after 1 May 2010 will include the designation of the new contracting state. It will not be possible to designate Albania retroactively in applications filed before that date.
The EPO will accord European patent applications filed in April 2010 the filing date of 1 May 2010 if the applicant expressly requests that filing date when filing the application in order to benefit from this change.
The EPO notice also advises that any PCT request (PCT/RO/101) filed on or after 1 May 2010 will automatically designate the new EPC contracting state for the purpose of obtaining a European patent.
The EPO has stated that the current extension agreement between Albania and the European Patent Organisation will therefore cease with effect from 1 May 2010. It will therefore no longer be possible to extend European patent applications and patents to Albania filed after this date. The extension system will, however, continue to apply to all European and international applications filed prior to 1 May 2010, as well as to all European patents granted in respect of such applications.
:See the following article for more details
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