EPC States

From 1 October 2010, there are 38 EPC Contracting States.

In view of a change that came into force on 1 April 2009, for European patent applications filed after that date, all these states can now be designated by payment of a single designation fee.* (The option to select states for designation and pay per-state designation fees is almost phased out, and applies only to European patent applications filed before that date.)

To assist clients in taking decisions as to which states to designate and for which states to file translations at the time of grant, we have prepared a rank-ordered table showing the approximate GDPs and populations of the EPC states. We also show countries that are signatories to the London Agreement.

* The same applies for European processing after that date of PCT applications filed before that date.

Download EPC States At-Glance