EPO and Jordan launch negotiations on validation agreement
The heads of the EPO and the Jordanian Industrial Property Protection Directorate (IPPD) met in Munich today to start negotiations on a validation agreement. The agreement aims to provide inventors and businesses with a simple and cost-effective way of obtaining patent protection in Jordan based on a European patent and patent application filed at the EPO.
Under the future agreement, an applicant can have European patent applications and patents validated in Jordan, where they will enjoy the same legal effects as national Jordanian applications and be subject to national law. The future agreement will also be accompanied by an advanced technical co-operation programme between the two offices, under which the EPO will provide training and tools to increase the capacities of the IPPD to better support the country's industrial property system.
EPO President António Campinos said: "These negotiations are another significant step in extending the reach of the European patent system beyond Europe. We are confident that we will formalise a validation agreement with Jordan in the coming months, which will help strengthen its patent system and allow applicants to validate European patents in a Middle Eastern country for the first time."
The Director of the IPPD, Zain Al-Awamleh, highlighted that "providing access for innovators to legally robust patents through the European patent system will contribute to the development of the Jordanian economy by encouraging innovation and stimulating foreign direct investment."
Director Al-Awamleh also underlined the importance of strengthening the technical co-operation with the EPO to support the efforts of the IPPD in developing the role of IP as a strategic economic tool in Jordan. The EPO and the IPPD already co-operate in the field of training of patent examiners and in the field of data exchange.
The IPPD is a Directorate within the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply. Approximately 300 national patent applications were annually filed in Jordan in the past few years and in 2017 the country became a contracting state to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
The European Patent Organisation currently has validation agreements in force with Cambodia, the Republic of Moldova, Morocco and Tunisia, and five further agreements are currently being negotiated.
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