HUNGARY
HUNGARY
are underway in Hungary and courts are yet to establish how they decide the date from which full damages can be claimed by a European patent owner. Therefore, SMEs are not immediately threatened by this new legislation.
Quality of translations
Being able to file a Hungarian translation of a European patent, instead of the patent in full, when seeking validation in Hungary, requires European patent filers to be vigilant about the quality of translations.
When a European patent is ready to be validated in Hungary, its claims must be translated into Hungarian. If the claims are translated incorrectly, problems can arise.
Article 84(j) of the Hungarian Patent Law deals with the authentic text of validated European patents. It states that if the scope of protection that is defined by the translated claims is narrower than the scope of protection of the original claims of the European patent, then the European patent’s authentic scope of protection in Hungary should be determined on the basis of the translated claims.
Article 84(j) also allows European patent filers to correct a Hungarian translation. A patent filer can submit a separate petition and pay a correction and republication fee, and corrected claims will be effective from the date on which the Hungary IP Office (HIPO) issues an official notice announcing republication.
European patent filers should be aware of Article 84(k). This states that those who have started to use a granted European patent, or have prepared to use it, before the patent’s claims were corrected, and the object of their use was outside of the scope of protection that was defined by the uncorrected text, cannot be accused of infringing the European patent in Hungary.
The quality of patent claim translations has increased in significance. The consequences of any error that affects the scope of protection greatly affect the value of the validated European patent and the possibility of enforcing it in Hungary.
When European patents had to be translated in full to be validated in Hungary, translators had more time to understand the technical teaching of a patent and to choose the correct terms that are used in the claims. Now that patent claims need only be translated into Hungarian, translators are expected to complete translations more quickly, and this
150 World Intellectual Property Review e-Digest 2012
NOW THAT PATENT CLAIMS NEED ONLY BE TRANSLATED INTO HUNGARIAN, TRANSLATORS ARE EXPECTED TO COMPLETE TRANSLATIONS MORE QUICKLY, AND THIS CAN ADVERSELY AFFECT THEIR QUALITY.
can adversely affect their quality. European patent filers need to make sure that their Hungarian patent claim translations do not accidentally narrow the scope of their European patents in Hungary.
Michael Lantos is deputy managing partner at Danubia Law Office LLC. He can be contacted at:
lantos@danubia.hu
Michael Lantos, a Hungarian and European patent and trademark attorney, was the managing partner and director of Danubia Law Office LLC between 1990 and 2011. He works in patent and trademark litigation, including licence- related counselling and litigation. He has been appointed by the minister of justice to the Professional IP Expert Board of Hungary. He is the current president of LES Hungary and vice president of the Hungarian Trademark Association.
www.worldipreview.com
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