PATENTS : FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF UNITARY PATENT WILL TAKE LONGER TO SETTLE.

The first European unitary patents, which are supposed to be less costly than the current system and lighter in terms of red tape, will not be granted until 2015. Under the two regulations adopted in December 2012 through enhanced cooperation (without Italy and Spain, which are not participating, and Croatia, which was not yet a member of the EU) - one setting up the unitary patent (co-decision), and the other establishing translation arrangements (Council regulation) - this unitary patent will cover 25 member states in a single application. In addition, an intergovernmental agreement sets up a single jurisdiction to replace the different national courts (see separate article).

An application for a unitary patent may be submitted in any of the EU languages and the patent will be granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) in either English, French or German. Machine translations on patent content and protection are...

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