Article 71

EUROPEAN PATENT ORGANISATION

Belgium accedes to the London Agreement

On 2 May 2019, the Kingdom of Belgium deposited its instrument of accession to the Agreement dated 17 October 2000 on the application of Article 65 EPC ("London Agreement", see OJ EPO 2001, 549), which under its Article 6(2) will accordingly enter into force for Belgium on 1 September 2019. The London Agreement will then be in force in 22 EPC contracting states.

Belgium has already previously amended its law in order to bring it in line with the London Agreement (see OJ EPO 2016, A99). Therefore, there are no changes to the current translation requirements in Belgium.

Under the revised legislation, patent proprietors are no longer required to file a translation into a Belgian national language of the specification of European patents granted in English on or after 1 January 2017 (mention published in the European Patent Bulletin).

Further information on the London Agreement may be obtained from the EPO website (www.epo.org).