Patent Translation in Antwerp: Chemistry, Petrochemicals and EPO Applications

Antwerp, Europe's leading port and the world capital of chemistry and petrochemistry, generates intense demand for patent translation in multiple languages. This guide details the EPO requirements, the most requested FR/EN/DE/NL language combinations and the rates applied for industrial patent translation in Antwerp.

Antwerp and industrial property: a strategic issue

The Port of Antwerp is the second largest port in the world by container volume and the first in Europe for chemical goods. The chemical and petrochemical cluster on the left bank of the Scheldt, grouping giants such as BASF Antwerpen, Borealis, Ineos, Air Liquide and Evonik, constitutes one of the densest industrial ecosystems in Europe. These companies file hundreds of patent applications annually at national, European and international (PCT) level.

Antwerp also hosts a network of innovative SMEs in fine chemistry, composite materials and depollution technologies that also have growing patent translation needs. Patent lawyers and intellectual property advisers (IPA) at Antwerp firms regularly call on specialised translation services to build their patent portfolios.

Patent translation for the EPO from Antwerp

The European Patent Office (EPO), headquartered in Munich, accepts patent application filings in one of its three procedural languages: English, French or German. An application filed in English by an Antwerp company must still have translations made into other languages at different stages of the procedure:

• Claims: upon grant of the European patent, the claims must be translated into the other two EPO languages. For a patent filed in English, the claims must be available in French and German.
• National validation in Belgium: to validate a European patent in Belgium, a translation into French or Dutch is required (or both if the patent covers claims in both linguistic regions). This requirement is managed by the SPF Economy, Office of IP.
• Validation in other Member States: each European country where the patent is to be validated may require its own national translation. Antwerp companies validating their patents in France, Spain, Italy or Poland will need to provide translations in those respective languages.

With the entry into force of the European unitary patent in 2023, companies can now obtain unified protection in 17 Member States without mandatory national translation (transition period). However, infringement disputes and patent assignments continue to require translations into the languages of the parties involved.

Language combinations for Antwerp patents

Companies from the Port of Antwerp and the chemical cluster work primarily in the following combinations:

• English → French: for patents filed in English by British or American subsidiaries, to validate on the French-speaking Belgian market
• English → Dutch: Belgian and Dutch validation, required for patents covering the Flemish market
• German → French / Dutch: for patents from BASF, Bayer, Evonik and other German groups present in Antwerp
• French → English / German: for EPO validation of patents filed in French
• All languages → Japanese / Chinese / Korean: for PCT filings and validations in Asia