On the sidelines of the second meeting of the European Patent Office online users’ days, being held in Monaco from November 24 to 25, the Principality, represented by Jean Castellini, Minister of Finance and Economy, and the European Patent Organisation, represented by the President of the European Patent Office, Benoît Battistelli, have signed a working agreement that will bring the two sides closer.
Users of the patent system will be able to request, on the filing of a national patent application, a research report from the European Patent Office and a written opinion on patentability, the whole of which is indispensable for knowing the legal value of an invention.
This signature clearly shows the will of the Prince’s Government not only to support companies in their policy of growth and innovation, through the provision of a powerful new legal tool, but also to continue the process of modernising its national office for industrial property law initiated in 2010.
It’s also an opportunity to highlight the close relations between the European Patent Office and the Principality of Monaco, which have steadily increased in recent years with the first official visit by its President in September 2013, and that of its Senior Director for European and International Cooperation, François-Régis Hannart, in November 2015, on the occasion of which a bilateral cooperation plan was signed to develop the activities of the national office in Monaco.