A.149a EPC Article 149a Other agreements between the Contracting States

(1)

Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as limiting the right of some or all of the Contracting States to conclude special agreements on any matters concerning European patent applications or European patents which under this Convention are subject to and governed by national law, such as, in particular

(a)

an agreement establishing a European patent court common to the Contracting States party to it;

(b)

an agreement establishing an entity common to the Contracting States party to it to deliver, at the request of national courts or quasi-judicial authorities, opinions on issues of European or harmonised national patent law;

(c)[ 175 ]

an agreement under which the Contracting States party to it dispense fully or in part with translations of European patents under Article 65;

(d)

an agreement under which the Contracting States party to it provide that translations of European patents as required under Article 65 may be filed with, and published by, the European Patent Office.

(2)

The Administrative Council shall be competent to decide that:

(a)

the members of the Boards of Appeal or the Enlarged Board of Appeal may serve on a European patent court or a common entity and take part in proceedings before that court or entity in accordance with any such agreement;

(b)

the European Patent Office shall provide a common entity with such support staff, premises and equipment as may be necessary for the performance of its duties, and the expenses incurred by that entity shall be borne fully or in part by the Organisation.

[ Art. 35 ]

[ 174 ]

Inserted by the Act revising the European Patent Convention of 29.11.2000.

[ 175 ]

See the Agreement of 17.10.2000 on the application of Article 65 EPC (London Agreement, OJ EPO 2001, 549), which entered into force on 01.05.2008 (OJ EPO 2008, 123) and which currently has 22 contracting states: AL, BE, CH, DE, DK, FI, FR, GB, HR, HU, IE, IS, LI, LT, LU, LV, MC, MK, NL, NO, SE, SI (see www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/london-agreement/status.html).

Source: http://www.epo.org/law-practice/legal-texts/html/epc/2016/e/ar149a.html

Date retrieved: 17 May 2021