EPO Press release 1/99 European Patent Organisation set to expand eastwards homepage => official communication => press releases 1999 => 29.01.1999
deutsch français		Munich, 29 January 1999.-- In what has been described as a "historic" move the 19 member states of the European Patent Organisation (EPO) have invited eight central and eastern European countries to accede to the European Patent Convention (EPC). These states - Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria - will be able to join with effect from 1 July 2002. In taking this step the EPO, which currently comprises all the EU member states together with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Cyprus, is moving more quickly on the issue of eastward enlargement than even the EU appears to be capable of doing. "In the long term," said European Patent Office President Ingo Kober, " widening the European patent system to include central and eastern Europe will strengthen the new member states' ties with the European Economic Area, as well as smoothing their integration into the European Union". At the same time, he said, it would boost the European patent system's standing and attractiveness in the eyes of its users worldwide. The EPO's existing member states aim to make use of the period leading up to 1 July 2002 to bring the revision of the EPC currently under way to a successful conclusion.
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