1. Cost reduction for European patent applications
As a result of the London Agreement a number of European countries no longer require translations for the validation of European patents. Compulsory translation has been completely abolished in France, Germany, Great Britain, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Monaco and Switzerland.
In Latvia and Slovenia only the patent claims still have to be translated. There is no need to translate the patent specification. The same applies to Denmark, Iceland, Croatia, the Netherlands and Sweden, provided that the European patent was granted in English. Alternatively, an English translation of the specification may subsequently be filed to validate the patent in these countries.
2. Reduction in fees charged by the Japanese Patent and Trademark Office
The Japanese Patent and Trademark Office has decided to reduce the official fees it charges for both patent and trademark applications. This will lead to a marked reduction, in particular, in the considerable costs involved hitherto in the filing of trademark applications in Japan. There is expected to be an average reduction of 12% in the fees for a patent application and of about 43% for a trademark application. In other words, the official fees for filing a trademark application, including registration (in three classes), will drop from €1,620 to approximately €852.
3. Dissolution of the Confederation of Serbia and Montenegro / Splitting off of Kosovo
The dissolution of the Confederation of Serbia and Montenegro and the splitting off of Kosovo has led to the emergence of two new constituent states which require and possess independent protective rights. It is, therefore, urgently recommended that in the relevant constituent states after the splitting off, i.e. in Montenegro and Kosovo, the requisite applications for protective rights that were originally filed for the whole of Serbia and Montenegro should be filed again separately to ensure the relevant protection there. According to the valid regulations currently in place, these protective rights will be recognized as having the same priority as that of the applications originally filed in the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro. Hence there will be no protection obstacle due to a lack of novelty.