The European Patent Convention (EPC) creates a great opportunity to apply for European patents in a cohesive process throughout its member states. The EPC offers protection cost-effectively in Europe with a single application. Currently there are 38 member states* (including most of the EU states), two extension states** and two validation states *** available through the EPC.

Once a patent has been granted by the European Patent Office (EPO), it needs to be validated in each EPC contracting state in which patent protection is needed.  Validation is the process whereby the national patent offices that have signed up to the European Patent Convention (EPC) recognise a patent granted by the EPO as being equivalent to a national patent granted by the respective patent office.

Click here to validate a European Patent in Spain or in any EPC contracting sate.

At DelValleIP, we offer a fixed-fee validation service which takes the hassle and administration out of the process for you:  When the EPO issues the notification of intent to grant, the patentee will have already filed a translation of the claims of the patent into the three official languages of the EPO (English, French and German).  The OEPM only requires a translation of the claims into Spanish for validation purposes (although in post-grant proceedings, a translation of the entire patent specification will most often be needed).  In addition, by appointing DelValleIP as your address for service, we will be the main contact point for the patent office in relation to post-grant matters, meaning that you have a suitably-qualified Spanish practitioner on hand should any post-grant proceedings be initiated in respect of the patent.

The Patent validation process

The validation process has been greatly simplified by the London Agreement 2000, which came into force on 1 May 2008.  The London Agreement basically relaxed many of the translation requirements that used to make validating a patent an expensive process, and also relaxed the need, in many of the EPC contracting states, for patentees to appoint a local representative or “address for service”.

In order to validate the European Patent in Spain, the publication fee must be paid and the necessary translations must be submitted to the patent office within three months from the mention of the grant of the European Patent.

Translations

We take pride in the quality of our translations. The translated claims are always proofread by one of our patent attorneys.

Contact us

If you are interested in validating European Patents in Spain , please contact our validation team at validations@delvalleip.com.

* the current 38 member states are: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,  Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom

** the extension states: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro
*** the validation states: Morocco, Republic of Moldova

Schedule of Charges – January 2020 – EUR

DelValleIP makes European Patent Validation faster, easier and safer.

Getting an accurate and firm quote is fast and easy too! Simply enter your seven digit EP number, tell us your email address, and we’ll do the rest.

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