Patent delays frustrate inventors (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Roger Harrabin
BBC Environment Analyst

The world patent system is under severe stress.

Delays in Europe of up to 10 years have left somewhere between five and ten million inventions globally queuing for approval, according to the head of European Patent Office, Alison Brimelow.

She said the delays were bad for business and created uncertainty for innovators.

There was immense pressure for the reform, she added, with increasing calls for a single European patent - and even a unified global system where a patent granted in one part of the world would be valid everywhere.

Currently, inventors have to file for patents in different countries.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7461597.stm

[jeff30997]

1. The patent for that new invention...

...called The Wheel is still waiting for approval.:)