Patent ‘fast-track’ scheme unveiled
Wednesday, 9th June 2010
The UK’s Prime Minister has announced a fast-track scheme for international patent applications aimed at reducing the global backlog and stifled growth in the global economy.
Prime Minister David Cameron announced the new Intellectual Property Office (IPO) scheme during a speech in Leeds, claiming that the new system will halt delays in global patents, currently costing the world’s economy £7.6 billion every year, and speed up applications by a year on average.
The new procedure will apply to applications filed under the international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
Under the PCT, applications undergo a preliminary assessment of their patentability before being passed to individual nations to consider the details. The scheme aims to stop work being duplicated when an applicant wants patent protection for the same invention in several countries.
Now businesses and individuals can apply for their application to be dealt with under the PCT (UK) Fast-Track when it has been approved in the international phase. Applicants requesting the fast-track service will receive an examination report within two months which, under current timescales, takes more than 18 months.
Applicable to all applications entering the national phase from May 28th, the UK is one of first countries to sign up to the idea and experts have welcomed the changes.
“Innovation is one of the main driving forces for Britain’s economic recovery. Delays in dealing with patent applications prevent firms from expanding and creating new jobs, “ claimed Intellectual Property Minister Baroness Wilcox.
“It is essential that businesses can take ideas from the drawing board to the market as quickly as possible. Securing a patent is an integral part of that process.
“The new fast-track procedure will make it quicker for business to turn innovation and ideas into products and jobs.”
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