Patent applicants will find it easier to access Japanese patents after the heads of the EPO and JPO agreed a patent translation deal between the two offices.
The agreement will add an automatic translation tool to Espacenet, the EPO’s public patent information service, allowing users to read machine translations of the documents in English, French and German.
The EPO said that the deal should improve the quality of patent applications at its office by enabling users to take better account of Japanese prior art.