EPO teams up with Lithuania to protect inventors
The European Patent Office (EPO) has signed an agreement with the State Patent Bureau (SPB) in Lithuania to help businesses to protect their inventions across Europe.
Under the agreement, the EPO will conduct searches on behalf of the SPB and offer services, including patent searches, at a reduced cost to Lithuanian applicants.
According to Rimvydas Naujokas, director of the SPB, the co-operation will benefit Lithuanian inventors by enabling them to check whether they can patent their inventions.
"It will make life easier for enterprises, academic and research offices, as well as individuals, who seek to create and patent inventions and improve the quality of their patents,” Naujokas said.
The agreement, which the two offices hope will boost innovation and improve the quality of patented inventions, was signed on October 9, by both Naujokas and EPO President Benoît Battistelli.
"Patenting is a powerful economic engine which is key to generating employment and stimulating growth," Battistelli said.
“These borders in Europe have to be removed if we want to remain competitive in the current times when innovation moves seemingly at the speed of light.”
According to a recent study, conducted by the EPO and the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, more than a quarter of employment in the EU was generated by IP rights intensive industries.
