How much does it cost to apply for an EU patent? According to the European Commission, the patent application price may drop from 36,000 euros to 6,400 euros. After a 12-year transition period, during which machine translation technology will be continuously improved, the cost of patent application may further drop to less than 5,000 euros. EUR. These cost estimates are still higher than the US patent's €1850$. EU leaders hope the single-application policy will help Europe catch up with other global rivals by making it more attractive to investors. In 2011, about 224,000 patents were granted in the United States, about 172,000 in China, and only 62,000 in Europe. EU Industrial Property In the field of industrial property, the EU's goal is to establish a single protection system for future homogeneous trademarks, designs and patents, which can be effective within the EU through a single application. In 2007, the European Commission passed a communication on the patent system, recommending the adoption of a "community patent" and the implementation of unified EU jurisdiction in the patent field. As a follow-up measure, on July 16, 2008, the European Commission adopted a communication on the European Industrial Property Strategy, formulating protection strategies for different types of intellectual property rights, which also included strengthening enforcement initiatives against counterfeiting and piracy. Trademarks The EU Council passed Regulation No. 40/94 (last revised in 2006) to protect "identical trademarks". Any natural person can obtain trademark rights by applying for registration. The registration fee is 230 euros. ***The same body trademark is registered and managed by the "Office for Coordination of the Internal Market (OHIM)" and has legal effect in 27 EU countries. The trademark systems of member states and the EU trademark system coexist at the same time, and have a division of labor. For example, the responsibility for combating infringement belongs to the courts specially designated by member states. The trademark protection period is 10 years, which can be extended without limit. The owner has the exclusive right to use the trademark and has the right to prevent any third party from using the trademark without its consent. ***The same trademark can be transferred. Within 5 years after trademark registration, if there is no "genuine use" in the EU, that is, normal commercialization, the trademark right can be rejected. In view of the coexistence of the European Union's collective trademark system and the member state trademark system, the EU has increased internal coordination efforts to better protect the rights and interests of right holders. At present, Europe plans to join the 2006 Singapore Treaty on Trademark Law. In 2007, OHIM*** registered 88,000 trademarks, an increase of 14% over the previous year. Compared with 2004, registration applications have increased by 50% and the time required for registration has been reduced by 1/3. 14% of homologous trademark registration applications use the procedures under the WIPO Madrid Protocol. Germany is the member state with the most applications for registered trademarks, accounting for 17% of the total number of applications, followed by the United Kingdom (10%) and Spain (8%). Industrial Design The European Union has formulated Design Directive No. 98/71/EC and Council Regulation No. 6/2002 to protect "homogeneous design", which is uniformly effective in 27 member states. The Design Directive only protects registered designs and operates in parallel with the protection systems for registered designs in each Member State. The laws of member states on the protection of designs have been largely converged by the EU Design Directive, whose protection requirements and protection periods are consistent with those of registered homogeneous designs. Although the Design Directive does not protect unregistered designs, many Member States do protect them in their national legal systems. Taking into account the large differences in actual operations between countries, the design directive leaves the design protection issues related to "complex product spare parts", especially automotive spare parts, to the member states to decide on their own. The right of homogeneous design can be obtained by applying for registration with OHIM (registered homogeneous design) or automatically obtained through public publication (unregistered homogeneous design). Registered designs have a longer protection period, which can be extended to up to 25 years; unregistered designs have a 3-year protection period after public publication, and the protection method is different from the former, that is, only when the protected design is copied Only infringement can be determined; unregistered design protection mainly provides practical and short-term protection for those products with short market cycles. This right is exhausted once a registered or unregistered design is placed on the international market by or with the permission of the right holder.

Designs may be registered within one year of public display. Registration can be applied to the relevant intellectual property agencies of member states or the Benelux Design Bureau, or directly to OHIM. The specific application procedures and requirements are detailed in European Commission Regulation No. 2245/2002, and the charging standards can be found in Regulation No. 2246/2002. Registered design protection for a product does not affect other types of intellectual property protection that may be included in the product. The courts of the Member States are responsible for prosecuting design infringements. The review committee is responsible for review issues related to the design; if you have objections to the review committee, you can file a lawsuit with the court, which will decide whether to cancel or change the relevant decision. As with previous EU enlargements, the legal effects of trademarks and designs that have been registered and used before Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in January 2007 will automatically extend to the above two countries. Patents Europe has formulated the 1973 European Patent Convention (referred to as EPC, revised in 2007) to protect patents. The 2007 version of the EPC improved relevant procedures and practices, and made minor improvements to the substantive patent law. European patents are granted by the European Patent Organization (EPO) and are different from patents. European patents can be granted for any invention in any technical field, as long as the commercial use of these inventions does not affect public order and social morality, does not destroy the diversity of animals and plants, and does not destroy surgical and therapeutic methods for humans or animals. Any natural or legal person or multiple persons may apply for a patent, and any language may be used during the application stage, which subsequently needs to be translated into one of the three working languages ??of the European Patent Convention (English, French, German). European patents are owned by the inventor or his legal heirs and have a protection period of 20 years. Invention patents for medicines or plants can obtain extended protection for up to 5 years through a Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC). The relevant requirements are the same as those for national patents. European patents can only be protected in the EPC signatory countries specified in the application, and infringement issues are handled by the laws of member states. The differences in the patent laws of each member state have affected the normal operation of the unified market within the EU to a certain extent. The European Commission is trying to converge the laws of each member state, with the ultimate goal of introducing homologous patents to more effectively Prevent patent infringement. Between 2006 and 2007, the number of patent applications filed with the EPO and the patent offices of member states increased from 135,400 to 140,700, of which 28% involved medicine, electronic communications technology and computers. Among the applications to the EPO, the proportion of first-time applicants reached 14%. In 2006, the European Commission passed Regulation No. 816/2006, allowing compulsory licensing of pharmaceutical patents for export to relevant countries with prominent public health problems. At the end of 2007, the European Commission, on behalf of the European Community, accepted the protocol to amend the TRIPS Agreement. Based on what has been said above, it is generally very expensive to apply for a patent in the EU. Once a patent is applied for, you need to pay an annual fee every year. This is also to better protect your intellectual property rights. Therefore, before applying for the EU patent When applying for a patent, please inquire about the local policies, and the charging standards may vary depending on the product.