Partner Article

Minister reveals "superfast" patent plans

The Government have revealed plans to introduce a “superfast” patent processing service, capable of granting patents in just 90 days.

Intellectual Property Minister Lord Younger confirmed the plans and introduced a consultation on how the service should work.

He said: “Inspiration and inventive thoughts can emerge at any time, but acting on them quickly can often be the catalyst for making a real difference to the success or otherwise of an idea.

“Government is committed to making it easy for innovators to turn their ideas into business growth. I am sure this will help to create a streamlined and flexible patent service and bring more choice for those who use it.”

The consultation will seek views on the conditions that would apply in order to use the superfast service; details of how it should work in practice, including fees; and the usefulness of existing patent acceleration services.

The Intellectual Property Office currently offers free acceleration services, where a patent can be granted in less than a year.

This consultation will run for eight weeks until June 12.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .