Translation Requirements for Validation of European Patents
A patent that has been granted by the European Patent Office may subsequently be made effective in any of the countries for which a designation, extension or validation fee has been paid. This process is commonly known as “validation” of the European patent. Some countries impose translation requirements as part of the validation procedure. In general, any required translations must be submitted within three months of the grant date of the patent.
The translation requirements imposed vary significantly between the different countries. The majority of European patents are in English, and for such patents, the following requirements apply:
- Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Switzerland, Tunisia and the United Kingdom have no post-grant translation requirements.
- Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cambodia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia require translations of the claims of the patent (but not the entire specification) in the appointed language to be filed.
- Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey require a translation of the entire specification in the appointed language to be filed. This includes a translation of the sequence listing, if one is present.
The attached annex sets out the requirements for each country, including the appointed language where relevant. As is evident from the annex, in some countries it is possible to re-use a translation prepared for another country with the same appointed language. For example, a Greek translation can be used in both Greece and Cyprus, an Italian translation can be used in both Italy and San Marino, a Croatian translation can be used in both Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina, a Serbian translation can be used in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina, and a Romanian translation can be used in both Romania and Moldova.
Annex – translation requirements for European patents in English
| Country Code | Country | Translation Requirement |
| AL | Albania | Claims only into Albanian |
| AT | Austria | Full text into German |
| BA | Bosnia & Herzegovina | Claims only into Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian |
| BE | Belgium | No translation needed |
| BG | Bulgaria | Full text into Bulgarian |
| CH/LI | Switzerland/Liechtenstein | No translation needed |
| CY | Cyprus | Full text into Greek |
| CZ | Czech Republic | Full text into Czech |
| DE | Germany | No translation needed |
| DK | Denmark | Claims only into Danish |
| EE | Estonia | Full text into Estonian |
| ES | Spain | Full text into Spanish |
| FI | Finland | Claims only into Finnish |
| FR | France | No translation needed |
| GB | United Kingdom | No translation needed |
| GR | Greece | Full text into Greek |
| HR | Croatia | Claims only into Croatian |
| HU | Hungary | Claims only into Hungarian |
| IE | Ireland | No translation needed |
| IS | Iceland | Claims only into Icelandic |
| IT | Italy | Full text into Italian |
| KH | Cambodia | Claims only into Khmer |
| LT | Lithuania | Claims only into Lithuanian |
| LU | Luxembourg | No translation needed |
| LV | Latvia | Claims only into Latvian |
| MA | Morocco | No translation needed |
| MC | Monaco | No translation needed |
| MD | Moldova | Full text into Romanian |
| ME | Montenegro | Claims only into Montenegrin[i] |
| MK | Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | Claims only into Macedonian |
| MT | Malta | No translation needed |
| NL | Netherlands | Claims only into Dutch |
| NO | Norway | Claims only into Norwegian |
| PL | Poland | Full text into Polish |
| PT | Portugal | Full text into Portuguese |
| RO | Romania | Full text into Romanian |
| RS | Serbia | Full text into Serbian |
| SE | Sweden | Claims only into Swedish |
| SI | Slovenia | Claims only into Slovene |
| SK | Slovakia | Full text into Slovak |
| SM | San Marino | Full text into Italian |
| TN | Tunisia | No translation needed |
| TR | Turkey | Full text into Turkish |
[i] Although Montenegrin and Serbian are officially different languages, there has not yet been any significant divergence since Montenegro gained independence from Serbia. A Serbian translation of the claims can therefore be used in Montenegro (as well as in Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina).