02/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - The French government has decided to sign the London Protocol and drop the requirement for "European patents" applied for in France to be translated into French. Only Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece are still demanding the translation of "European patents" managed by the Patent Office in Munich. Spain is also calling for Spanish to be recognised as one of the languages of the future "Community patent" which is currently being discussed by the Council.