Up to ten million inventions await approval at the European patent office with many delayed by as much as ten years, reported the BBC.

The delay has adversely affected business, leaving inventors in uncertainty and creating pressure for a shift to a unified global system. The present system requires inventors to file for patents in different countries.

Confusion is caused by the option to file for patent in individual European countries as well as through the European patent office. An effort to form a combined EU patent was held up, though attempts are being made to restore it.

Alison Brimelow, head of the European Patent Office, said the patent system is losing its integrity because of global backlogs. She said that more effective methods should be considered for removing duplication from the patent system. She added that while patents in Europe were supposed to be approved in 36 months, the process often dragged on for years. In some cases, developing countries find themselves at a disadvantage as the delay in patent approvals prevent them from fast-tracking inventions to combat climate change.

Brimelow said that mutual recognition may be a solution, allowing a patent examined in one major institution to be recognised by another. Language is also an impediment, as many European countries insist that patents are filed in the local language. X

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BBC