On 12 October 2011 the European Commission presented a so-called “Roadmap for stability and growth” outlining the response that they believe is needed to get Europe out of the current economic crisis. The roadmap includes five areas of action, four of which relate to financial and economic issues, including of course the problems currently encountered by Greece and the other Euro countries.
The last area of action is called “Speeding up stability and growth-enhancing policies” and suggests, amongst others, to accelerate the adoption of the proposed unitary European patent. If the 25 member states, who have indicated their intention to join the unitary patent, all do so the Commission estimates that it would lead to an 80% reduction in costs for companies utilising the system. Together with a series of other initiatives this should not only make life easier for European companies, but also contribute to making Europe more attractive to foreign investors.
Read more about the EU patent in our earlier blog post: A brighter future for the EU patent
The full document adopted by the Commission can be found here.
Vibeke Warberg Rohde, European Patent Attorney, Awapatent
