INFORMATION FROM THE EPO
Extension of European patents to Latvia1
The agreement on extending the protection conferred by European patents2 - Extension Agreement - will enter into force on 1 May 1995. The rules governing the new system are set out in the Latvian Patent Law (LPL/1995, Chapter 5) and correspond to those set out in the Extension Ordinance of Slovenia3 and in the Lithuanian Patent Law4.
Extension system
1. Extension occurs at the applicant's request. It is deemed requested for any European patent application filed on or after 1 May 1995 (Art. 18(3) LPL/1995). Extension is not available for applications filed prior to that date, or for any European patents resulting from such applications.
2. Extension is also deemed requested for all international applications filed on or after 1 May 1995 provided that both the EPO and Latvia are validly designated (Euro-PCT applications).
3. The extension fee is DEM 200. It must be paid to the EPO (not the Latvian Patent Office; Art. 18(8) LPL/1995) within the time limits prescribed in the EPC for paying the designation fees (Art. 79(2) and 78(2) EPC). After expiry of the basic time limit, the extension fee can still be validly paid under Rule 85a(2) EPC within a period of grace of two months, provided that within that period a surcharge of 50 % is also paid.
The payment period for Euro-PCT applications is 21 or 31 months from the date of filing or the priority date (Rule 104b(1) EPC).
4. Applicants intending to pay the extension fee for Latvia are asked to enter Latvia (LV) in section 34 of the Request for Grant form (Form 10015) and to cross the appropriate box. The same applies for section 11 of Form 1200 for Euro-PCT applications entering the regional phase.
1 See OJ EPO 1994, 201.
2 It is based on the agreement between the European Patent Organisation and Latvia on co-operation in the field of patents which entered into force on 1 March 1994.
3 For further information on the basic principles of extension see OJ EPO 1994, 75.
4 See OJ EPO 1994, 527.
5 See OJ EPO 1994, 501.