Progress on Community patent, hints Commission

Picture courtesty inventionpatent.net

Gunter Verheugen, vice president of the commission, told journalists on 3 May that he was “slightly more optimistic” about breaking the deadlock that has thwarted efforts to agree for so many years.

At the beginning of this year the Commission said it was making one final effort to push through proposed legislation that would pave the way for one single patent, with one litigation procedure involving one single patent court for the whole of the European Union.

The last attempt was made in 2000, but Member States squabbled over what languages the Community patent should be translated into – there has been gridlock ever since.

In October 2000 some countries proposed an interim solution, dubbed the London Agreement, to break the deadlock over languages. The agreement would excuse countries with English, German or French as their official language from having to translate patents at all. Other countries would have to issue their patents in the local language, plus one of the three official languages of the European Patent Office (EPO).

London agreement

Alain Pompidou, president of the EPO, who was attending the press conference with Verheugen, urged politicians to hurry up and ratify the London Agreement.

“The London Agreement shows the way for the Community Patent, which we all want to see,” Pompidou said.

In January the Commission opened a three-month consultation period, seeking views from industry and the worlds of science and academia. The consultation ended at the end of last month and the Commission is examining the written responses it received. It will host a hearing in July to discuss the issues raised in the consultation.

Verheugen said no date has been fixed for the ratification of the London Agreement yet. Despite expressing some optimism that it will happen he also warned that some countries in the Union are contemplating breaking off from any multinational efforts.

“Some countries want to roll back the responsibilities of the European Patent Office to national level,” he said, adding that he is “concerned” to hear some countries consider such an idea.

“Business needs more Europe in this regard, not less,” he said.

The EPO receives around 160,000 applications and awards patents to around 60,000 inventions each year. According to Pompidou, around half of the applicants come from outside Europe. Companies based in United States apply for more patents that companies from any other single country in the world, followed by Germany, Pompidou said.

China and India are also becoming keen competitors, he said. “The protection of intellectual property through the use of patents plays a key role in keeping Europe competitive,” Pompidou said.