Our clients may be interested to note that it will soon be possible to validate European patents in Tunisia.
This new development applies in respect of European patent application or international patent applications (PCTs) designating Europe filed on, or after 1, December 2017, for which it will be possible to validate such European patents on request in Tunisia.
The opportunity to validate European Patents in Tunisia arises from a validation agreement made in 2014 between the European Patent Office and the Tunisian government. The protection afforded by the Tunisian validation will provide essentially the same protection as patents granted by the European Patent Office for the 38 territories which are currently members of the European Patent Convention.
The validation fee is a mere EURO 180 and is due for payment within 6 months of the mention of publication of grant of the European search report in the European Patent Bulletin. If the validation fee for Tunisia is not paid in time, the request for validation is considered withdrawn. However, the fee can still be paid with a 50% surcharge within an additional two month grace period.
