EUROPE's companies negotiate a costly and tortuous patent regime. Inventors apply to the European Patent Office, with which all 27 members of the European Union and nine other European countries co-operate. Once granted, patents must be validated, translated and annually renewed in all those countries in which a firm wants protection. Litigation is on a national basis, so courts in each country can in effect overturn patents granted by the EPO, or uphold patents which have been invalidated by it. As a result, a new paper estimates that it can cost between four and ten times more to get a patent in Europe than in America, Japan, China or South Korea, depending on how many countries are involved. In 2008 the burden was reduced somewhat by an agreement under which countries can waive the right to have patents translated into their national language. So far, however, only 14 countries have agreed to do so.

Shutterstock