Patent Industry Issues

Patent trolls damage US startup investment

July 10, 2014

Over the last ten years the US has seen a rising number of so-called patent trolls, companies that have the sole purpose of registering patents and subsequently suing unsuspected companies who often inadvertently infringe the patent through their own innovations. A recent study by James Bessen and Michael Meurer suggested that trolls cost the US economy around $30 billion per year in legal costs. It is something that may be seriously stifling creativity and innovation as startups look to create…

EU moves closer to unitary patenting system

July 9, 2014

Plans for a single unitary patenting system covering the EU may finally be coming to fruition, despite tumultuous attempts to adopt it into European law. The advantages of a unitary patenting system will be that applicants would be able to protect their intellectual property across a number of European member states without undertaking the costly full granting procedure in each individual state, and one regular renewal fee would be payable to one single central entity, with the fee expected to…

UK and China launch super-fast patenting highway

July 8, 2014

In an ongoing effort to increase trade links between the UK and China, a pilot programme has been launched aiming to help businesses fast-track patent applications between the two regions. The idea of extending the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) scheme to China was raised following a Prime Ministerial trip to China last year. It means that when a patent is granted at either the UK patent office (UKIPO) or Chinese patent office (SIPO), applicants can get a quicker decision on…

Patent trolls damage US startup investment

EU moves closer to unitary patenting system

UK and China launch super-fast patenting highway

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