A system that made patent registration up to 60 times more expensive in Europe than in China is being scrapped in favour of a one-size-fits-all pan-European process. But Spain and Italy refused to join the scheme because of language concerns. Signing off on a plan first considered in 1973, 25 of the EU's 27 industry ministers – apart from Spain and Italy – agreed to allow inventors to register their idea with one EU agency.
The old system makes the process 18 times more expensive than in the United States and 60 times more than in China. Under the previous system, patents had to be registered separately in individual EU countries.
To read the original article: EU patent finally sees light – without Spain and Italy | EurActiv
