Validating a European patent in Finland

Due to the fact that Finland became part of the London agreement on 1 November 2011 the validation takes place by giving, in most cases, a translation of the claims of the European patent and by paying the publication fee within 3 months from the mention of the grant in the European Patent Bulletin. .

If the patent (B1) was granted before the London agreement entered into force in Finland, ie. before 1 November 2011, but B2 and B3 will be published later, the whole patent document (the description, claims and drawings) has to be translated into Finnish no matter what the language of the proceedings at the EPO has been.

What must be translated

If the language of the proceedings of the European patent has been English, then only the claims in Finnish, or in certain cases in Swedish, has to be given. If the language of the proceedings of the European patent has been French or German, then a translation of the whole description, including drawings, must be given either in English or in Finnish, and the claims in Finnish, or in certain cases in Swedish,.

PLEASE NOTE! There is no need to translate the first page of the European patent publication, because the Finnish Patent Office will print a first page of its own.

Language of the translation

The translation of the claims must be filed in the Finnish language.

The translation may be filed in Swedish if the applicant’s or patent holder’s own language is Swedish. A company's own language is Swedish if the recording language used in the company is Swedish.

Assurance concerning the translation

In submitting the translation or a correction to the translation, the applicant, the patent holder, his / her representative, or the translator must assure that the translation corresponds to the documents granted in the language of the proceedings of the European Patent Office.

Form

The form needed for giving the translation is found in electronic form (Word or .pdf‑format) on our web‑site in Internet, see http://www.prh.fi/en/patentit/forms.html

It is not obligatory to use the form but it is recommended.

Physical requirements of the translation

- Margins: left 2,5 - 4 cm, right 2 - 3 cm, top 2 - 4 cm, bottom 2-3 cm
- Typing shall be 1½-spaced
- Font size: the capital letters of which are not less than 0.28 cm high (e.g. Times New Roman 12 or Arial 12 or other)
- No columns in the text (not like in the European patent publication)

Fees to be paid

The publication fee is 450 euros, if you give the translation on paper, no matter how many pages the translation contains. The publications fee is 350 euros, if you file the translation online using the eOlf-software, see Electronic services

The fees are to be found on our website http://www.prh.fi/en/patentit/pathakmaks.html see point “Fees for validating a European patent (EP) in Finland.”

Renewal fee

When filing, remember that you perhaps have to pay the next renewal fee to the Finnish patent office.

The bank and the account

The banks and accounts where to pay the fees are on our website, see http://www.prh.fi/en/patentit/pathakmaks.html

When paying, give the number of the patent, the name of the patent proprietor and the name and address of the one that pays..

Representative

No official representative is needed for the validation of a European patent.

Note, however, the Finnish Patents Act, section 71, which says that "The proprietor of a patent who is not domiciled in Finland shall be required to appoint a representative domiciled in the European Economic Area with authority to receive service of writs of indictment or summonses and other documents in proceedings and matters concerning the patent, with the exception of writs of indictment in penal cases and of summonses to appear personally before a court. The name of the representative appointed shall be communicated for recording in the Patent Register."

Lists of professional representatives: see the web page http://www.prh.fi/en/patentit/patenttiasiamiehet.html, Registered Patent Agents,

or the web page of the Association of the Finnish Patent Attorneys.

The postal address of the Finnish Patent Office is

P.O. Box 1160
FI-00101 HELSINKI
Finland

Telephone number +358 29 509 5000
Fax number is +358 29 509 5328.
Fax and online filing with eOlf are open 24/7.

The office hours are from 8 AM to 4.15 PM.

For further details go to http://www.prh.fi/en/yhteystiedot.html

Where to find information?

In the publication called "National law relating to EPC" published by the European Patent Office, on pages 82 and 83, you will find almost all necessary information to file the translation of your European patent in Finland. Link to the publication.

The Finnish Patents Act, Patents Decree and Patents Regulations in English are on the web‑site http://www.prh.fi/en/patentit/lainsaadantoa.html, see legislation on the right.

If you need advice

Need to ask for something? Send an e-mail to Patent Information Services of the Finnish Patent Office. The e-mail address is advice.patents@prh.fi, and telephone +358 29 509 5858.

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