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Guidelines for validation of European patents in Denmark

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Statutory basis: The Patents Act § 77 and the Order on Patents §§ 112-119.

These guidelines should ensure that requirements for validation of European patents in Denmark are met correctly.

 

Validation period

The period for validation is 3 months beginning with the date on which the European Patent Office (EPO) granted the patent or reached the decision to maintain the patent in amended/revised form.

Example: When the European Patent Office has granted a patent on 8 May 2008, validation must occur before 8 August 2008.

In accordance with the Patents Act § 72, it is possible to apply for re-establishment of the patent in the event that the absolute deadline of 3 months is exceeded.

Formal Requirements

The Patents Act, § 77 states that, a European patent is validated by filing a copy of the granted patent:

  • translated into Danish, or

  • in English, with a translation in Danish of the claims only.

Annotations to drawings/photographs

In accordance with the general rules, annotations to drawings and photographs must be in English or Danish.

European patents granted in German or French

In accordance with the above-mentioned requirements, a patent granted by the EPO in German or French must be translated into Danish, or into English with a translation in Danish of the claims only.

European patents granted in English

In accordance with the above-mentioned requirements, a patent granted by the EPO in English can be filed in the English version with a translation in Danish of the clains only.

Requirements for the format and page setup of European patents

In accordance with the Patent Guidelines, section PDK 3.1A A-III, the following requirements must be met:

  • The text of the patent must be in black typescript or in black ink characters, on white, unlined A4 paper (210 X 297 mm). The text must have 1.5 line spacing, with a left-side margin of 24-40 mm and a top margin of 20-40 mm. The right-side margin and the bottom margin are each set at 20-30 mm. The capital letters of the typeface used must be at least 2.1 mm.

  • The pages of the documents must also be numbered using Arabic numerals situated about 2 cm from the top of the page, in the centre. The numerals must not be accompanied by any adjacent markings (full-stops/dots, dashes etc.). Every fifth line of the text must be numbered; the numerals situated approximately 2.5 cm from the left edge of the page. The claims must be numbered consecutively. The description and the claims must each begin on a new sheet of paper.

Please note that, when granted, the English language European patents (B1) can be obtained on EPO’s publications server. 

Instructions for meeting the requirements of the Patent Guidelines, section PDK 3.1A A-III, when using EPO’s publication server

  1. Go on to EPO’s publication server:

  2. Under ”Publication number” enter the EPO publication number of the patent that is going to be validated.

  3. Under ”Publication date” select the relevant period for the patent’s publication.

  4. In the selection boxes under ”Kind”, remove the tick from the box ”Select all kind codes”. This will remove all of the “kind codes” ticks.

  5. Tick the B1 box.

  6. Enter ”Search”. The patent will now appear in a new window.

  7. Click on XML version of the patent.

  8. Copy and paste the English text into a Word document. Remove any German and French text.
    Also remove EPO’s page-numbering, publication number and bibliographic information as they will only serve to confuse.

  9. Copy and paste the Danish translation of the claims into the Word document; beginning on a new page after description.

  10. Copy all of the drawings in the XML version and paste them into the Word document. The drawings must begin on a new page after the Danish translation of the claims.

  11. Format the text and set the margins etc. of the patent in the Word document so that it complies with the requirements of section PDK 3.1A A-III; see “Requirements for the format and page setup of European patents” above.

  12. Convert the Word document to a PDF file.

  13. Submit the PDF version of the patent to the Danish Patent and Trademark Office for validation.

Please note that, the granted patent in the EPO’s publication server has numbered sections, beginning with [0001]. These section numbers do not have to be removed from the document before sending it to the DKPTO; if they are included, the numbering of every fifth line of the text, in accordance with section PDK 3.1A A-III of the Patent Guidelines, is not required.

The Danish Patent and Trademark Office cannot accept the "Druckeksemplar" for validation of the patent due to the general quality and legibility of this version.

How to file a European patent for validation

The patent can be filed:

The cost of a validation in Denmark

The basic fee for publication is DKK 1,050.

In the event that the entire patent document (description, claims, figures/photographs etc.) exceeds 35 pages, an additional publication fee of DKK 80 per page will be charged.

European patents granted before 1 May 2008

The previous version of the § 77 stipulates, that the entire patent document must be translated into Danish. There is NO exemption from this provision.

European patents granted before 1 May 2008 and amended on or after that date

Until 13 July 2009 the old requirements concerning translation apply to European patents granted before 1 May 2008 and amended on or after that date. As of 13 July 2009 a new practice concerning amended patents has been implemented, and consequently the new translation requirements now apply to European patents granted before 1 May 2008 and amended on or after that date.