Commission opens the way for some Member States to move forward on a unitary patent

Today the European Commission presented a proposal opening the way for "enhanced cooperation" to create unitary patent protection in the EU. Such unitary patent protection would allow those Member States that so desired to agree to establish a patent, valid in all participating countries, that could be obtained with a single application. Obtaining a patent in Europe currently costs ten times more than one in the US because of national validation and translation costs.