Costa Rica Signs Validation Agreement with European Patent Office

By IDEAS

The European Patent Office (EPO) signed a landmark validation agreement with the Ministry of Justice and Peace of Costa Rica. This milestone marks the culmination of extensive technical collaboration and over a year of discussions.

"This agreement symbolises a bridge between continents and constitutes a significant milestone that not only reflects the commitment of both parties to strengthen innovation and intellectual property protection, but also opens new doors for trade, invention and technological development," stated EPO President António Campinos.

Costa Rica is the seventh country to sign a validation agreement with the EPO, following Morocco, Moldova, Tunisia, Cambodia, Georgia and Laos.

Under the validation agreement, European patents validated in Costa Rica will have the same effect and be subject to the same conditions as national patents. Once in force, the agreement will streamline access to the Costa Rican market for European patent applicants, thereby encouraging trade, technology transfer and foreign direct investment.

The system for validating European patents in a non-member state is based on an international agreement between the European Patent Organisation and the respective validation state. Applicants can obtain patent protection in the validation state using effectively the same procedure before the EPO as for obtaining national patents in the Organisation's 39 (as of 01.10.22) member states and one extension state. At their request, and on payment of the prescribed fee, European applications and patents can be validated in the validation state, where they will have the same effect as national applications and patents.

The validation system ensures that foreign applications entering the validation state have been examined in accordance with the same high quality standards as any other patent application filed with the EPO. The thoroughness and reliability of the EPO's patent grant process results in a high degree of legal certainty for the holder of a European patent. Thanks to the EPO's role as the patent office for Europe and a leading PCT authority, the inventions protected by a European patent are typically filed internationally and are of high economic value. The grant of a national patent through the validation system is thus a simple, timely and cost-efficient way of achieving high-level protection for an invention in a jurisdiction that is not part of the European Patent Organisation.