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Happy Birthday Unitary Patent
The Unitary Patent is celebrating its first birthday these days and - as the figures clearly show - it has been very well received. Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular often choose this option to protect their innovations in the EU. 34% of all unitary patents have been filed by SMEs. Austrian companies are also strong users of the system. Measured by population, they are ranked 5th in the EU and 6th worldwide in filing. The rankings clearly show that smaller, export-oriented economies are particularly interested in the Unitary Patent: Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Luxembourg are ahead of Austria.
Romania about to join, more member states expected
With the unitary patent, companies can protect their innovations in many European countries at the same time with a single patent, saving a lot of paper, time and money. Most importantly, it eliminates the need for time-consuming translation into the various national languages. The new European Unitary Patent is currently valid in 17 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden. Romania's accession is imminent; the national procedure has already been completed. Other EU countries are expected to join in the near future.
The details of how the unitary patent is used in Austria and other countries can be found on the dashboard of the European Patent Office:
06/03/2024
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