LAST year individuals, businesses and institution lodged a total of 236 patent applications with the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic (ÚPV SR); the office has granted a total of 376 patents for inventions by Slovak and foreign applicants submitted between 1995 and 2008, Július Šípoš, the spokesperson forthe ÚPV SR told The Slovak Spectator. Most applicationslast year were submitted in the mechanical engineering and human necessities sectors, based on the international patent classification system.
Šípoš said the current system in terms of international patent protection is complicated as well as financially and administratively demanding.
There are efforts at the European level to simplify the patent-granting process. On February 15, the European Parliament backed a simpler and less-expensive patent system for the European Union, the Reuters newswire wrote. The EU-wide patenting system proposed by the European Commission is currently supported by 25 EU countries but is opposed by Italy and Spain, who want their languages to be included in the translation regime, in addition to the primary languages of English, French and German. The current European patent system is essentially a collection of national patents which must be validated in each country, pushing up the cost of a patent to as much as €20,000, or about 10 times the cost in the United States, Reuters wrote.
Šípoš told The Slovak Spectator that the ÚPV SR welcomes all activities linked to simplification of the patent process as this could lead to more innovation and greater competitiveness in Europe.
