In the statement, the Munich-headquartered organisation highlighted the importance of patent quality in boosting innovation. It suggested that improving patent quality will require action at both the pre-and post-grant stages of the patenting process.

Speed and quality

In the pre-grant phase, specific measures are needed to address the speed and quality of patent examination. At the post grant stage, opposition or re-examination proceedings require improvement, together with the litigation system.
The ESAB also set out the three specific policy issues to be targeted this year, which will be: the economic effects of the unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court - two questions of particular relevance following the recent decisions taken at the EU level - and the possible impact of a grace period in Europe from an economic perspective.