Companies and inventors from around the world, including Romania, filed 199,264 patent applications with the European Patent Office (EPO) last year, with the majority in the area of information technology, according to the 2024 Patent Index, published on Tuesday.According to an EPO press release, Romania submitted 63 applications for European patents (+50% compared to 2023), with the main areas being medical technology (11 applications) and IT-related areas, including information technology and IT methods for management (8). The strongest Romanian applicant was, for the second consecutive year, "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava.Of the total applications submitted to the EPO in 2024, computer technology, which includes areas of AI such as machine learning and pattern recognition, was the leading field for the first time, with 16 815 patent applications in 2024. Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy posted the strongest growth last year (+8.9% on 2023), driven by advances in clean energy technologies, particularly battery innovation (+24.0%).The Unitary Patent system launched in 2023 continues to gain momentum, offering innovators simpler and more accessible patent protection across 18 EU member states with a single request to the EPO. Romania will join this system starting September 1, 2024, meaning that from that date, all European patents with unitary effect will automatically cover Romania as well.According to last year's centralised data, unitary protection was requested for 25.6% of all European patents granted by the EPO in 2024, totalling over 28,000 requests - a 53% increase compared to 2023 (18,300 requests). Patentees from EPO member states had the highest uptake rate, with 36.5% of their European patents transformed into Unitary PatentsFor Romania, the acceptance rate was 52.6%, while for other regions, it was lower: South Korea (18.9%), China (17.9%), the USA (16%) and Japan (7.9%).
La French Tech Bucharest announces the third edition of its highly anticipated flagship event, Sustainability meets Profitability, set to take place on April 8th, 2025, at the Romanian - American University (1B Expoziției Boulevard, Bucharest), starting at 18:30. Sustainability meets Profitability event will explore the new regulations companies—big or small—must navigate and how they can turn […]
The builders of Romania’s important A1 Sibiu – Pitești highway are set to start the construction of a bridge over 300 meters long and at least 100 meters wide, allowing the animals of the Southern Carpathians to cross from one side to the other. The investment will pay off as a corridor for large mammals […]
The local business services industry has potential for growth, even if it will see a slower pace because the market is a mature one and given the high regional and global competitiveness, according to a report carried out by the Association of Business Service Leaders in Romania (ABSL) in partnership with Deloitte Romania. Still, the […]
Several Romanian military personnel who were on parental leave went to Congo as mercenaries, according to a statement from the Ministry of National Defense. The issue of active soldiers taking mercenary work first came up on the public agenda after PressOne...
The European Investment Bank and the government of Ukraine have agreed to allocate EUR 50 million from EIB funding to Ukraine's national railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, for the modernization of key railway border crossings with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. The project includes repairs to worn-out railway tracks, the relocation of wagon inspections, the reconstruction of […]
Medicover has acquired the operations of the lab tests provider Synlab Group in Romania, Turkey, Cyprus, Slovenia, Croatia, and North Macedonia in a transaction worth EUR 71.3 million, the company announced. The transaction was financed from Medicover's own sources. It was carried out by Medicover for its diagnostic services division, present in Romania under the […]
