WRITTEN QUESTION E-3132/02 by Samuli Pohjamo (ELDR) to the Commission. Representation of the different languages in Commission departments.
Date: 2002-11-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Patent Office, European patent, official language, translation, use of languages

C 110 E/170

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

8.5.2003

(2003/C 110 E/189)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3132/02

by Samuli Pohjamo (ELDR) to the Commission

(4 November 2002)

Subject: Representation of the different languages in Commission departments

The European Patent Office performs a vitally important role from the point of view of firms applying for
a European patent. The European patent project has long been in the pipeline, and the Commission has
been a prime mover.

It is in the interest of Europeans for all countries and language groups to be represented in common
European bodies. In Finland the fact that there is no Finn working at the European Patent Office, and no
service can therefore be provided in Finnish, has been found to pose a problem.

What will the Commission do to enable the patent service to be speeded up and made more flexible as far
as language factors are concerned? Technology, for example, is developing very rapidly, and if a patent
takes several years to obtain, the technology to which it relates may in that time become obsolete.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(3 December 2002)

The European Patent Office (EPO) is not a Community body. In fact it is an autonomous entity and totally
independent from the Community institutions. According to Article 4 (2) of the Convention on the grant
of European Patents (European Patent Convention, EPC) the EPO is one of the main organs of the
European Patent Organisation.

Since 1975 when the EPO was set, up the official languages of the EPO are English, French and German.
Further to Article 14(2) of the EPC, nationals of an EPC Contracting State having a language other than the
three working languages may initially file a European patent application in an official language of their
State, subject to the transmission of a translation at a later stage.

Finland adhered to the EPC on 1 March 1996. In 2001, 20 Finnish nationals were employed by the EPO,
and according to information obtained from the EPO eight additional Finnish staff have been recruited by
31 October 2002.

The issue of working languages enabling staff of international organisations to communicate with each
other must be clearly distinguished from translation requirements which may apply, for example, after
grant of a European patent.

In the context of the planned creation of a Community patent (1) and a possible accession of the
Community to the European Patent Organisation, careful consideration is being given to issues such as
translation requirements, costs and the possible involvement of national patent offices in the initial stages
of the treatment of Community patent applications.

Whilst the Commission is aware that patent application procedures may be rather lengthy, it should be
noted that workload is only one among a number of factors determining the duration of the period from
application to grant. Other factors include the strategy of the patent applicant and the timetable for
processing applications which is laid down in the legal and procedural framework within which patent
offices have to operate.

(1) Proposal for a Council Regulation on the Community patent, OJ C 337 E, 28.11.2000.