Archive: January, 2015

How Italy successfully improved its approach to intellectual property rights protection

How Italy successfully improved its approach to intellectual property rights protection

Despite current difficulties, Italy remains the 8th largest economy in the world with an economic value of 2.2 trillion USD (IMF, WEF). This global standing is based on the creative ability and production of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs account for 65% of GDP and 99.9% of all enterprises, of which 94.4% are micro organizations with an average number […]

Morocco recognises European patents as national patents

Morocco recognises European patents as national patents

The President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Benoît Battistelli, and the Moroccan Minister of Industry, Trade, Investment and the Digital Economy Moulay Hafid Elalamy announced today that an agreement allowing European patents to be validated in Morocco will enter into force on 1 March 2015. “This is a historic step for the European patent […]

New peak of patent filings at the EPO in 2014

New peak of patent filings at the EPO in 2014

The EPO published yesterday its preliminary filing figures for 2014. The general increase should reach approximately +3%, well above 270 000 filings. It follows the trend observed the last four years with an annual increase between 2 and 4%. Of course, there are big differences when looking more closely at the geographical origin of those filings by regions. […]

OHIM's paper filing fee applies to online applications with additional lists of goods and services

OHIM’s paper filing fee applies to online applications with additional lists of goods and services

Adding a list of goods and services to your online application, whether as an attachment or by fax, means that our staff processes the application manually. As a result, the reduced online fee (900 EUR) cannot be applied and the paper filing fee is applied instead (1 050 EUR). Those users inserting additional lists of […]

Internships for patent professionals

Internships for patent professionals

Praktika Intern 2015 – working with examiners 16 June – 3 July 2015 European Patent Office, The Hague The Praktika Intern programme is designed for professional representatives working in private practice or industry with experience in drafting and prosecuting European patent applications. It is an international programme organised and co-ordinated by the European Patent Academy, […]

Vote on GMO opt-out for EU member states

Vote on GMO opt-out for EU member states

New legislation to allow EU member states to restrict or ban the cultivation of crops containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on their own territory, even if this is allowed at EU level, will be put to a vote on Tuesday. The plans, informally agreed by Parliament and Council in December, were originally tabled in 2010 […]

Reorganisation of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market

Reorganisation of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market

From October last year, the Office has implemented a flatter management structure, to increase the agility of operational areas and speed up decision making. This change will benefit users by making the Office more reactive and quality-focused. It is designed to help OHIM meet the expectations of its users, and its commitment to them, with […]

Successful 2014 for the Cooperation Fund

Successful 2014 for the Cooperation Fund

The Cooperation Fund has marked 300 implementations by national and regional IP offices of its tools and services. The Cooperation Fund began operations following an extraordinary meeting of OHIM’s Administrative Board and Budget Committee in 2010, and with a €50 million budget, is OHIM’s largest single project to date. The Fund is run in partnership […]