Asked in Copyright and Patents (Intellectual Property)

Q: Does this mean that patent is not active in Europe?

They have several patents, as I understand. In their web-page it is said that it is also in Europe, but I can not find a patent for Europe. I would like to start a small business in Latvia, with a product similar to that.

1 Lawyer Answer
Peter D. Mlynek
Peter D. Mlynek
  • Intellectual Property Lawyer
  • Moorestown, NJ

A: Typically, a patent in most European countries is obtained one of two approaches: under one approach, the applicant applies to the country's patent office which then examines that the application complies with the country's patent laws. Under another approach, the applicant applies for a European patent to the European Patent Office which then examines the patent; after the patent is approved, the patent owner has to take an additional step called "validation", which makes the patent enforceable in the countries that the patent owner selects and pays for.

If your competitor has a European patent, in order to prevent you from making or selling a product that is covered by the claims of the patent in Latvia, the patent owner must have validated the European Patent in Latvia.

You need to find the European patent that your competitor has, and assure that it has not been validated in Latvia.

If you cannot find the European patent, then find the US patent (or a patent in any country) that your competitor has, and then see if there is an equivalent one in Europe.


