European Union set to adopt unified patent system

Science : European Union ministers have agreed to a system that will provide a single path to patent protection in 25 European nations beginning in 2014. The European Patent Office currently handles patent requests for 38 nations, using each nation’s individual patent system. The new unified system will decrease the amount of work and money required to obtain a patent in Europe. The European Commission believes that the cost of a patent will drop from €36 000 ($47 000) to just €6400, and that the adoption of machine translation technology could reduce it even further. The commission hopes that the new system will make European inventors more likely to file for a patent in the EU even though the cost will still exceed that of a US patent. The new system will require patents to be filed in English, French, or German, but translation costs will be refunded to some submitters. The approval process for the new system still requires a vote of the European Parliament and a separate agreement signed by the EU nations to establish a Unified Patent Court to handle patent disputes. Spain and Italy have both filed complaints against the proposal, claiming that the language requirement unfairly favors English, French, and German.