There is a general acceptance that European patent law is complicated, particularly in the area of pharmaceutical inventions. Claire Baldock looks at how the EPO approaches these inventions and the positives and negatives for the pharmaceutical industry.
The European Patent Office’s (EPO) approach to granting patents and how it goes about doing this have a large influence on the health of the pharmaceutical sector. The competitiveness and worth of innovative pharmaceuticals are linked to the strength of its patents.
Bringing new and potentially life-saving drugs to the public requires huge investment and there is constant pressure on companies to innovate and produce results in both a timely and a profitable manner. Patents are essential to the process and so the industry is always looking to patent offices to examine and grant patents in a consistent way while being supportive of its needs.
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EPO, European Patent Law, pharmaceuticals
