New patent application arrangements will save businesses money
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Issued 31 December 2010 - BIS
Intellectual Property
Minister Baroness Wilcox has welcomed new arrangements for filing
patents in Europe which will cut costs for UK businesses.
From tomorrow applicants
will supply the European Patent Office (EPO) with fewer documents than
before, which will save companies money on the fees they pay agents for
making the application.
Baroness Wilcox said:
“Reducing the burden of
bureaucracy saves businesses time and money. It is essential in
creating the conditions for businesses to grow and prosper.
“These new arrangements will
make it cheaper and easier for UK firms to obtain patent protection as
they look to expand into other European countries.
“The UK has been campaigning
for greater work sharing like this and I am pleased to see this latest
development.
“Cutting duplication is key
to dealing with the worldwide backlog of patent applications.
“The quicker we deal with
patent applications, the quicker firms can bring the latest innovations
to the consumer.”
The EPO enables companies to
make one application for patent protection in up to 40 European
countries rather than making separate applications in each country.
But individuals cannot make
their own applications to the EPO so companies must engage a patent
attorney to do it for them.
The new arrangements mean
applicants will no longer have to supply the EPO with the results of
searches already done by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
Instead the IPO will automatically supply the information from its
records and around 5,000 applications a year will benefit from this
change.
This will mean less
bureaucracy and costs for business while also improving efficiency at
the EPO. It will also help tackle the major international backlog of
patent applications.
It is estimated the patent backlog costs businesses as much as
£7.65
billion each year.
About the Author
© Crown Copyright. Material taken from the BIS Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Reproduced under the terms and conditions of the Click-Use Licence.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2011-01-03 12:10:17 in Business Articles
