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French Assemblée nationale votes on the London Agreement

On Wednesday, 26 September 2007, France's National Assembly met in extraordinary parliamentary session to debate two pieces of legislation relating to European patent law:

draft law No. 64 authorising ratification of the European Patent Convention as revised in November 2000 (EPC 2000)
draft law No. 151 authorising ratification of the October 2000 London Agreement.

The former went through without discussion, whereas the latter was debated until late in the evening, with advocates and opponents of the London Agreement having their say before the draft law was finally put to the vote and adopted by the Assembly.

The two draft laws now go to the Senate, which will discuss them on 9 October 2007.

If the Senate approves them, and once the instruments of ratification have been deposited, both the EPC 2000 and the London Agreement will enter into force for France over the next few months: the EPC 2000 on 13 December 2007, the London Agreement possibly in early 2008.

The aim of both texts is to improve the European patent system established in the 1970s. The EPC 2000 modernises the European patent grant procedure for which the European Patent Office is responsible, whilst the London Agreement gives easier access to European patents – especially for small and medium-sized firms – by reducing translation costs for granted European patents.

For more information, see

Legislative initiatives:
- EPC 2000
- London Agreement

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French Assemblée nationale votes on the London Agreement