On 22 January 2009, the Republic of Lithuania deposited its instrument of accession to the Agreement of 17 October 2000 on the application of Article 65 EPC ("London Agreement", see OJ EPO 2001, 549). Under Article 6(2), the Agreement thus entered into force for Lithuania as 15th contracting state on 1 May 2009.

However, the London Agreement will have no effect on the existing translation requirements in Lithuania because the relevant provisions have already been transposed into domestic law and form the basis for the national practice (see Article 59 (3) (2) and (3) Patent Law, as published in "Valstybs inios" No. 85/2005).

Lithuania does not require proprietors of European patents to supply a translation of the patent specification, irrespective of the language in which the Office granted the patent. However, a translation of the claims into Lithuanian is required.

More information on the London Agreement is available on the EPO website (www.epo.org).

References: ar65;