Is There Such a Thing as a Standardized Global Patent System?

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Microsoft called for an overhaul of the patent system to create a unified global patent office that will promote innovation, encourage competition and drive economic global growth.

"Over 3.5 million patent applications are pending around the world, including over 750,000 in the U.S. Pendency periods [the time during which a patent is "pending"] are extending to three, four or in some cases five years before final patents are issued," Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft deputy general counsel, said in a blog post Tuesday: Improving Global Patents: Think Locally, Act Globally.

What that means is that obtaining and enforcing a patent for a product sold internationally quickly becomes prohibitively expensive.
"The cost of this workload to patent applicants and patent offices is too high, and the delays in securing patents are too long for entrepreneurs and large enterprises alike," Gutierrez said in his post on Microsoft's On the Issues blog.

Read more here.
Related resource:
United States Patent and Trademark Office