Global Patent Industry
The global patent industry is a set of businesses that makes money from researching, writing, granting, licensing, and litigating patents. The patent industry in Europe consists of:
- The national patent offices.
- The European Patent Office.
- Independent patent experts and attornies.
- Patent lawyers who manage intellectual property issues for major corporations.
- Patent-holding specialist firms (also called 'patent trolls').
As any business, the patent industry is driven by profit. The patent industry has a monopoly over the patent business. For example, there are no private patent examiners, so patent examination costs are very high, and the patent examination process is inefficient. The bigger the monopoly, the higher the costs: the EPO charges several times more for patent examination than a typical national patent office.