Norway and Croatia accede to the European Patent Convention

The Governments of the Kingdom of Norway (NO) and the Republic of Croatia (HR) deposited the instrument of notification of the European Patent Convention (EPC) and the instrument of accession to the Act revising the EPC of 29 November 2000.

The EPC will accordingly enter into force for Norway and Croatia on 1 January 2008.

The European Patent Organisation will thus comprise the following 34 member states as from 1 January 2008:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Further information concerning the effects of this accession and the provisions which Norway and Croatia have enacted for the implementation of the EPC will be published on the homepage of the European Patent Office respectively in the Official Journal of the European Patent Office.