Georgia to Allow Validation of European Patents as National Patents

It has been announced that it will be possible, from 15 January 2024, to validate European patents in Georgia (GE). This development marks the culmination of an agreement between the European Patent Office (EPO) and the government of Georgia first signed on 31 October 2019.

Georgia will not be a member of the EPC, nor a so-called extension state. Instead, the validation agreement is a bilateral arrangement between the EPO and the government of Georgia. Similar bilateral agreements are in force between the EPO and Morocco (as of 1 March 2015), Moldova (as of 1 November 2015), Tunisia (as of 1 December 2017) and Cambodia (as of 1 March 2018).

For users of the European patent system, the practical result of this announcement is that it will be possible to cover up to 45 countries with a single European patent application. Any applicant filing a European patent application (or a PCT application designating Europe) on or after 15 January 2024 will be able to request validation in Georgia, and a validation fee of 200 EUR will need to be paid to the EPO within the same period as for paying designation and extension fees.

Validation in Georgia will not be available for European patent applications filed before 15 January 2024, or any European patents resulting from such applications.

The EPO's announcements can be seen here, here and here. If you require advice regarding validating a European patent in Georgia, please do not hesitate to contact your usual J A Kemp advisor.