(1) Any State Party to this Agreement having an official language in common with one of the official languages of the European Patent Office shall waive the requirements for translation provided for in Art. 65, para. 1 of the Convention of 29 November 2000 on the European patent ¹ .

(2) Any State Party to this Agreement having no official language in common with one of the official languages of the European Patent Office shall waive the requirements for translation provided for in Art. 65, para. 1 of the European Patent Convention, if the European patent has been granted in the official language of the European Patent Office prescribed by that State, or translated into that language and furnished under the conditions laid down in Art. 65, para. 1 of the European Patent Convention.

(3) The States referred to in paragraph 1. 2 retain the right to require that a translation of the claims in one of their official languages be furnished under the conditions set out in s. 65, para. 1 of the European Patent Convention.

(4) This Agreement shall not be construed so as to restrict the right of the States Parties to this Agreement to waive any translation requirement or to apply less restrictive rules in the field of translation than those Subject to s. 2 and 3.

This Agreement shall not be construed to restrict the right of the States Parties to this Agreement to prescribe that, in the event of a dispute relating to a European patent, the owner of the patent shall furnish, at its own expense,

(a)

At the request of the alleged infringer, a complete translation of the patent into an official language of the State in which the alleged infringement of the patent took place,

(b)

At the request of the competent court or quasi-judicial authority in a procedure, a complete translation of the patent into an official language of the State concerned.

(1) This Agreement shall be open until June 30, 2001 at the signature of any State Party to the European Patent Convention.

(2) This Agreement shall be subject to ratification. Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

After the expiration of the signature period referred to in s. 3, para. 1, this Agreement shall be open to the accession of any State Party to the European Patent Convention and any State entitled to accede to the said Convention. Instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

No State Party to this Agreement shall make any reservations to it.

(1) This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the fourth month following the deposit of the last of the instruments of ratification or accession of eight States party to the European Patent Convention, including the three States in which the most A large number of European patents took effect in 1999.

(2) Any ratification or accession after the entry into force of this Agreement shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month following the deposit of the instrument of ratification or accession.

This Agreement shall be concluded without limitation of duration.

Any State Party to this Agreement may, at any time, denounce it, provided that it has been in force for three years. The denunciation shall be notified to the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany. It shall take effect upon the expiry of the period of one year from the date of receipt of that notification. In that case, the rights acquired prior to the taking of such denunciation shall not be infringed.

This Agreement shall apply to European patents in respect of which the mention of grant has been published in the European Patent Bulletin, after the Agreement has entered into force for the State concerned.

This Agreement shall be drawn up in a copy in the German, English and French languages, which shall be deposited with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, the three texts being equally authentic.

(1) The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany shall establish certified copies of this Agreement and shall transmit them to the governments of the signatory or acceding States.

(2) The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany shall notify the Governments of the States referred to in s. 1:

(a)

Signatures;

(b)

The deposit of any instrument of ratification or accession;

(c)

The date of entry into force of this Agreement;

(d)

Any denunciation received pursuant to s. 8 and the date on which it takes effect.

(3) The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany shall register this Agreement with the Secretariat of the United Nations.

In witness whereof The plenipotentiaries designated for that purpose, having submitted their full powers, recognized in good and due form, have signed this Agreement.

Done at London on October 17th, two thousand in one original, in German, English and French, all texts being equally authentic.

(Suivent signatures)