Hopes for an EU patent

08.07.10 Brussels – The European Commission has tabled the translation arrangements that were lacking to bring about the long-awaited single EU patent. If adopted, the measures – which foresee limiting translation of European patent claims to English, German and French – would reduce the current cost from about EUR20,000 to EUR6,200, which is still about three times the cost of a US patent. Further translations into other languages will then only be required in cases of a legal dispute concerning the EU patent. Last year, the bloc adopted key elements to bring about a single patent and establish a new patent court, but excluded translation arrangements.