The EPO has recently published the Select Committee’s report of its 22^nd meeting held on 9 October 2017.  The Committee focused on the preparation of financial aspects of the unitary patent, but was also presented with an overview of the interfaces relating to filing a request for unitary effect and to the Register for unitary patent protection and confirmed the EPO was ready for the implementing phase.

Yesterday the EPO published a study assessing the role of the European patent system in supporting the circulation of technologies through trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the EU.  The study (carried out by economists from the EPO, the University of Colorado Boulder and the London School of Economics) found that, although patent protection benefits trade and FDI in innovative industries, the current fragmented patent system limits the benefit, and improved harmonisation (for example, by the introduction of the unitary patent) would remove many of the limitations.