Archive - February 2022

China has now ratified the Hague Agreement for the International Registration of Industrial Designs. This means that from 5 May 2022 China can be designated in new international design applications under the Hague system. International design applications allow applicants to submit a single design application to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Office and […]

The unitary patent (UP) system offers much greater simplicity for users. Instead of having to validate and renew a granted European patent on a country-by-country basis, innovators would be able to achieve the same protection with a single Unitary Patent maintained by a single renewal fee. That means fewer deadlines to remember and fewer reminder […]

The first Unitary Patents (UP) are expected to be registered and in effect before the end of 2022 and will cover at least 17 countries. With a population of over 300 million people and a GDP valued over $13 trillion, a Unitary Patent would cover the majority of the European Economic Area. Future Unitary Patents […]