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IP/09/1880
Brussels,
4th
December 2009
Patents: EU achieves political breakthrough
on an enhanced patent system
The Council has today unanimously adopted
conclusions on an enhanced patent system in Europe. The package agreed
covers major elements to bring about a single EU patent and establish a
new patent court in the EU. Both together will make it less costly for
businesses to protect innovative technology and make litigation more
accessible and predictable. Today's agreement will pave the way for
solving the outstanding issues to achieve a major reform of the EU
patent system in the near future.
Vice
President Günter
Verheugen, Commissioner for Enterprise
and Industry, said: "Making
patenting less costly and more efficient was very high on the policy
agenda since many years. In fact it was a priority of the Reform
Partnership for Growth and Jobs, since it is a precondition for
fostering innovation and competitiveness. Therefore, today's agreement
cannot be overestimated. It comes at a moment when it is most needed."
Internal
Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: "I
welcome this political breakthrough as a very strong signal from the
Council that the EU is committed to achieve a true single market for
patents. A number of issues remain to be resolved and we undertake to
work closely with the Council and the Parliament towards achieving a
final package that will meet the trust and confidence of users."
Enhanced patent system in Europe
The
Council agreement encompasses the main features of a future patent
court in the EU. A
specialised patent
court will allow cases to be heard before judges with the highest level
of legal and technical expertise in patents. A unified court will also
mean that parties do not have to litigate in parallel in different
countries incurring high costs. Parallel litigation can amount at least
€500 000 in a typical case, which can be cut drastically by a
unified court, saving as much as €289 million each year for
European companies. The court will include local and central chambers
under a common appeal court. In the initial stages, parties will be
able to continue to use national courts, allowing confidence to build
up gradually in the new system. After this political agreement, the
Council will now wait for a legal opinion on the new patent court from
the European Court of Justice.
Ministers
have also agreed an approach on an EU Patent Regulation. The Regulation
was originally proposed by the Commission in 2000 under the Lisbon
strategy but negotiations stalled in 2004. The creation of an EU Patent
would help to improve the current situation where a patent designating
only 13 EU Member States is already 11 times more expensive than a US
patent. However, the creation of the EU patent will depend on a
solution to be found for the translation arrangements which will be
subject of a separate Regulation. A common understanding has also been
reached on renewal fees and the cooperation between patent offices.
Renewal fees will be set at a level to facilitate European innovation
and foster competitiveness. Furthermore, the EU patent will involve
partnerships between patent offices in Europe
to allow synergies to be created to bring about more rapid delivery of
patents and increase speed of access to market for innovative products
and services. The European Parliament will now have the opportunity to
debate the EU Patent Regulation.
Background
The
Commission proposed a Regulation for a Community Patent in August 2000
(now referred to as the EU Patent under the Lisbon Treaty). After a
Council Common Political Approach in 2003, negotiations stalled and a
final agreement was not reached. On the basis of an extensive
consultation in 2006, the Commission adopted a Communication "Enhancing
the patent system in Europe"
in April 2007. This re-launched the patent reform debate in the
Council. In particular, it suggested new avenues to explore on the
patent court and translation arrangements for the EU patent.
Following
progress in the Council on the litigation system which resulted in a
draft Agreement on a common court for current European and future EU
patents, the Commission adopted a Recommendation for a negotiation
mandate from the Council. The court would be established by a "mixed
agreement" between the EU, its Member
States
and third countries who are Contracting States of the European Patent
Convention. In June 2009, the Council submitted a Request to the
European Court of Justice on the compatibility of the draft Agreement
with the EU Treaties. This opinion is pending.
More
information is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/patent/index_en.htm
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