The Patents (Amendment) Act 2012 has been signed into law and now requires the making of the necessary commencement orders by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

The purpose of the Act is to make the necessary changes to the Patents Act 1992 so as to provide for ratification by Ireland of the London Agreement.  The London Agreement aims to reduce the costs to applicants of the patent process by reducing the requirements to file translations of granted patents under the European Patent Convention (EPC).

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