EU patent system ‘to save firms €6m’

THE Government has called for the introduction of a single EU-wide patenting system, which it claims could save Irish firms around €6 million per year.

Europe currently has a fragmented patent system in place, which has consequences for competitiveness.

A European patent, designated in 13 countries, is about 10 times more expensive than a US patent and 13 times more costly than a Japanese one, when processing and translation costs are taken into account.