II. The request for unitary effect
Translation of the European patent
65The request for unitary effect must also contain a translation of the European patent as required under Article 6(1) Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012:
– Where the language of the proceedings is French or German, a full translation of the specification of the European patent into English must be submitted.
– Where the language of the proceedings is English, a full translation of the specification of the European patent into any other official language of the European Union must be submitted.
66A full translation of the specification of the European patent is required. Under Rule 73(1) EPC, the specification of the European patent includes the description, the claims and any drawings. Therefore, to satisfy the formal requirements, the translation filed alongside the request for unitary effect must include the description, the claims and any text contained in the drawings.
67Translations of the claims into the two official languages of the EPO other than the language of the proceedings will already have been filed with the EPO at the end of the grant procedure under the EPC. These can be reused by the patent proprietor. Similarly, where the language of the proceedings is English, patent proprietors who choose to file a translation of the European patent specification into an official EU language other than French or German are often able to use an adapted version of an application first filed with a national patent office. Moreover, patent proprietors who choose to validate the European patent in a state not covered by the Unitary Patent that requires a translation of the specification may also use that translation. In principle, sequence listings do not need to be translated, irrespective of whether they appear or are merely referred to in the B publication. Should the circumstances of a case require that a translation of the sequence listing be filed under Rule 6(2)(d) UPR, the Unitary Patent Protection Division will issue an invitation to the proprietor to file such a translation.
68Compensation for translation costs is available for SMEs, natural persons, non-profit organisations, universities and public research organisations having their residence or principal place of business in an EU Member State. To be eligible, they must have filed their European patent application in an official EU language other than English, German or French. See point 89 onwards for more information on the eligibility requirements.
69The translation should be drawn up in a form enabling it to be disseminated, i.e. it should be typewritten or printed (see Article 6(2) Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012; Rule 50(2) EPC, which applies mutatis mutandis pursuant to Rule 20(2)(c) UPR). There must be a margin of about 2.5 cm on the left-hand side of each page. The presentation of the translation must meet the requirements as set out in the Decision of the President of the EPO dated 25 November 2022 on the presentation of application and other documents (OJ EPO 2022, A113).
70The translations are included in the public part of the file relating to the European patent with unitary effect, where they can be inspected online by the public. The translated text has no legal effect and is for information only.