Oct 25, 2015

Patents in Eastern Europe

Much of the patent work carried out in Eastern Europe falls into a sub-category below the high-end patent work typical for the US/Canada/Japan, UK/Germany/France and other European Patent Convention (EPC) founding states on the EPO level, which involves expert claim drafting, high-profile patent litigation and some US-specific trends such as patent re-examination. What firms in (EPC) Eastern Europe generally handle is the translation and prosecution of national phase Patent Cooperation Treaty applications or the extension and validation of European patents granted to EPC member states. Occasionally there is a potential patent litigation case, which is usually settled before reaching court. Lately, patent enforcement cases before customs authorities have started to make their way into the busy world of trademark customs watch, but this cannot be described as a trend.

https://www.petosevic.com/resources/articles/2012/10/001006

7 Comments

Jon La BreaOct 27, 2015

George, do you think with the Unified Patent System in 2016, the trend gradually changes? I mean we see more serious cases in Europe?

George CatalinOct 27, 2015

It will help a lot, at least on the surface and in official statistics, but the problem in Eastern Europe is that obtaining a patent is a very difficult, long and bureaucratic process. And most of the people did not posses the needed education and knowledge. Individually speaking. In term of bigger companies, yes, it will help.

Jon La BreaOct 27, 2015

I agree that Eastern Europe may still be behind for few years due to bureaucratic nature of patent process there.

Xi FungOct 27, 2015

I believe European governments can play a much bigger role in changing this trend by simplifying all those bureaucratic processes. That's what Chinese government is doing and we already see the results. Quantity has gone up and quality will follow shortly after.

Zoe BollingerOct 27, 2015

That was an interesting comment on the Chinese system Xi Fung. One of the approaches the government took there was to incentivize patenting with tax breaks and other monetary benefits. This boosted filing quantity, though quality is still debated. It would be interesting to see if a thoughtful version of an incentive system could help get the ball rolling in other countries, such as in Eastern Europe, as long as the incentives took quality into consideration. What do you think George?

George CatalinOct 27, 2015

I do not know what to say. The problem is that for example in my country of origin, Romania, most of the patents owned by individuals are done over a long period of time and self sacrifice, and many of their brilliant projects will never see mass production because of the costs. The alternative is to sell it to a conglomerate or very big company. I have a fair idea on the subject because my secondary field of research is genius and talented individuals, especially genius and gifted children. And i have a tangential aproach to inventions and patents because of this.

Zoe BollingerOct 28, 2015

Your research sounds fascinating George. It would be interesting to explore the best ways to support individual innovation, and how to help take those products to market. A more supportive system would certainly have economic benefits far beyond the individual who received assistance.