As reported in our prior Newsletters, a number of countries in central Europe have made agreements with the European Patent Office (EPO) whereby patents granted by the EPO may have effect in their countries.

For European patent applications filed after October 15, 1996, or PCT applications designating the EPO and Romania filed on or after that date, it is possible to request that the European Patent be "extended" to Romania. A provision similar to that is already in effect relating to Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Albania. In order to take advantage of this provision it is necessary that at the time of filing the European application an indication is given that the patent is to be extended to Romania. At the grant of the European patent in order for the extension to be effective, a translation of the entire specification and claims into Romanian will be required. In contrast, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia only require a translation of the claims at this point.