The Netherlands has the second-highest English proficiency in the world

The Education First (EF) language company has posted its latest English Proficiency Index (EPI), ranking non-native language proficiency. The Netherlands came second in Europe and the world this year, and has actually been among the top 5 countries in every EF EPI. More details on the performance in Europe is found here.

DeltaPatents gratefully makes use of these language skills, drafting patent applications almost exclusively in English.

The Netherlands is the 4th most innovative nation in the world

Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States of America are the world’s five most innovative nations, according to the Global Innovation Index 2015, while China, Malaysia, Viet Nam, India, Jordan, Kenya, and Uganda are among a group of countries outperforming their economic peers.

Using patents to share technology

The WIPO magazine of August 2015 has an interesting article from Kyoto University in Japan about how patents are used to ensure that other researchers have access to their induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology. By patenting the technology, they can stop others from controlling it and they can stimulate new discoveries in this field by offering reasonable non-exclusive licensing agreements.