Unitary patent : EPO amends proposal on renewal fees

The European Patent Office's (EPO) first proposal on fees for renewing the future unitary patent, put forward in March, was met with a general outcry, and therefore it has now amended the text. These fees, which are paid annually for up to 20 years, were considered too high by the industry and the European Commission - which said they could lead to companies' avoiding the new unitary patent, and particularly SMEs which should be first in line to benefit from…