One EU, one patent system

An agreement reached by the EU Competitiveness Council clears the way for an EU unitary patent, allowing patent applicants to apply for a single patent that will be valid in 25 European nations. “A unitary patent and court system will save businesses time and money whether they are patent holders or those seeking to challenge patents,” says Baroness Wilcox, United Kingdom (U.K.) intellectual property minister. Council agreement on two issues—the number of translations required of a patent applicant and the technical details in the application—helps clear the way for unitary patent implementation. The EU unitary patent is expected to reduce the applicants’ costs of translating the patent by up to 80 percent. The savings to U.K. businesses alone may be as much as £2 million per year.