News

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February 2008

London Agreement in Sweden

Sweden has signed the London Agreement.

However, Sweden has not yet ratified the Agreement. At present, there is work going on in the Swedish Government, in the Ministry of Justice, aiming at ratifying the Agreement. It is impossible to predict when this work will be concluded.

If Sweden ratifies before 1 May 2008, which is likely, the Agreement will be effective in Sweden as from 1 May 2008, otherwise later.

Under Article 1 (2), Sweden has selected English as the prescribed language, so in case the EP patent has been granted in English, it will be sufficient to file a Swedish translation of the granted claims (Sweden has required that such a translation of the claims be filed, under Article 1 (3)). In case the EP patent has been granted in German or French, a Swedish translation of the claims has to be filed, along with an English or Swedish translation of the description.

The translations as filed will be published on the internet, and a publication fee has to be paid (SEK 1.100 for the first 8 pages, SEK 155 for each additional page). Even if the EP patent is granted in English, it is possible to file a Swedish translation of the description as well. Such a translation will also be published, but the publication fee will only be calculated on the basis of the number of pages containing the claims. Thus, there will be no official publication fee for a voluntarily filed translation of the description (from English into Swedish).

Of course, if and when Sweden ratifies the London Agreement, we will update this information. Please contact us in case you have any questions concerning the London Agreement in Sweden.

Ehrner & Delmar Patentbyrå AB

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