The Geographic Coverage Of European Patents Keeps Growing

Through a single European patent application filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) and undergoing a single examination process, inventors and businesses now can obtain patent protection in no less than 46 countries. This is the result of a recent agreement between the European Patent Organization and a Southeast Asian country located a long way from Europe: Laos. The geographic coverage of European patents continues to grow on a global scale and this growthshows no signs of stopping since another agreement was recently signed with Costa Rica.

The geographic coverage of European patents has always extended beyond the borders of the European Union (EU). This is due to the very nature of the European patent system which is based on an intergovernmental organization larger than the EU: the European Patent Organization. The Organization has for its executive body the European Patent Office (EPO); its purpose is to provide patent protection in its Member States by a