Science and technology in the United States finish. For example, the British engineer Joseph Swan built an incandescent electric lamp in 1860, almost 20 years before Edison. But Edison's light bulbs lasted much longer than Swan's, and they could be turned on and off individually, while Swan's bulbs could be used only in a system where several lights were turned on or off at the same time. Edison followed up his improvement of the light bulb with the development of electrical generating systems. Within 30 years, his inventions had introduced electric lighting into millions of homes. Another landmark application of scientific ideas to practical uses was the
Representation before the European Patent Office point when candidates failed to select the "right" starting document (for assessing the inventive step of some claims) and the blanket addition of 10 points to the grade of all C papers, was strongly criticized. As of November 2010, there were a little more than 10,000 persons on the list of professional representatives, "just less than 1500" "legal practitioners entitled to represent before the EPO", and "about 300 patent law firms, which are registered as „associations of representatives“ within the meaning of ". As of January 2013, there were precisely 10,427 professional representatives. Under , an association of professional representatives