Pharmaceutical and biomedical firms are among the closest observers of international intellectual property management regulations, and recent research suggests that they believe European Union patent reforms will ultimately be more favorable to the life sciences sector than those passed within the America Invents Act.

In a survey of more than 300 industry professionals, U.K. IP consultants from Marks & Clerk learned that while 64 percent of respondents feel as though the development of a unitary EU patent system will ultimately benefit their companies, just 47 percent felt similarly about AIA provisions now in effect.

"Interestingly, when asked a similar question in our 2010 report, 59 percent of respondents believed that the proposed U.S. patent reforms would benefit the sector as a whole," Marks & Clerk partner Gareth Williams told IAM Magazine. "It is clear this initial optimism has now been tempered by the realities of reform, and the growing sense that the AIA will principally be of benefit to larger organizations."

Nevertheless, surveyed life science professionals indicated that the United States and Europe remain the two most attractive regulatory climates by a wide margin. Additionally, immediate concerns such as macroeconomic volatility and regulatory uncertainty regarding biosimilars transcend international borders.