Patents

Patenting innovations is now cheaper and less complicated in up to 25 EU countries, but further EU plans for revamp IP rules have come under fire  

With the last legal hurdle to the creation of Europe’s unitary patent out of the way, it is time for innovators to decide whether or not they will use the new system

It’s been a long time coming, with MEPs having voted it through in December 2012. But advocates say the unitary patent remains relevant and will be a boon for the European economy

Plans to scrap a little-used law that gives Italian academics ownership of intellectual property are on hold, pending a decision from a new government. But the case for reform remains strong.

In the first of a new Science|Business column on European innovation ecosystems, we look at efforts to get entrepreneurs to rethink how they handle knowledge valorisation

Austria’s decision to ratify the provisional implementation of the Unitary Patent Court agreement ends a decade-long deadlock. After a run in period the full launch of the single patent is expected in the next 12 months

A World Trade Organisation waiver on intellectual property will not overcome immediate vaccine shortages. Compulsory licensing is a better approach