Unified European Patent System Is a Significant Advancement for Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights

Online, December 17, 2012 (Newswire.com) - American Innovators for Patent Reform (AIPR) applauds the recent vote by the European Union to create a single patent system in Europe. This new patent system - which will take effect in January of 2014 if a majority of the EU member country parliaments approve the measure - will make it simpler and less expensive for inventors, small businesses and universities to obtain a single European Patent without having to register it in various countries of the European Union.

Additionally, a single European patent court will eliminate forum shopping and make it easier, less expensive and more predictable to enforce patents. This event highlights the growing importance accorded to patents across Europe, and Europe's growing recognition that strengthening the patent system will promote innovation, and that will create jobs and economic growth.

AIPR sees the same dynamic occurring in China, which is why there has been an unprecedented explosion in new patent applications in China. For the first time in history, the China Patent Office received more patent applications (526,412 in 2011) than the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (503,582).

"Unfortunately, while Europe and China are busy strengthening their patent systems, the U.S. Congress, U.S. courts and U.S. government are busy weakening ours," observes Alexander Poltorak, founder and President of American Innovators for Patent Reform.

"For example," says Alec Schibanoff, Executive Director of AIPR, "the Federal Trade Commission recently sponsored a workshop on the activities of 'patent assertion entities.' The workshop focused on the effect of patent enforcement on consumer choice, while there was little attention paid to protecting intellectual property rights or promoting innovation, and no discussion of job creation or economic growth!"

"Today we live in a global village. It's high time we had a world patent," adds Dr. Poltorak. "The next step in the patent unification process should be unifying the U.S. and European patent systems to create a single US-EU patent. And that should be followed by bringing China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and other countries into the system to create a single world patent."

About American Innovators for Patent Reform
American Innovators for Patent Reform (AIPR) represents a broad constituency of American innovators and innovation stakeholders including inventors, engineers, scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, patent owners, investors, small businesses, and intellectual property professionals such as patent attorneys, technology transfer managers and licensing executives.

AIPR promotes stronger U.S. patents and more vigorous patent enforcement, and opposes any legislation that weakens the U.S. patent system, the driving force behind American innovation and global competitiveness. AIPR advocates a multi-tier global patent system, full funding for the U.S. Patent Office, automation of the patent application process, and synchronization of patent and copyright laws.

For more information about AIPR, please visit www.aminn.org.

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