Brussels, 20/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament (EP) legal affairs committee adopted its position on Tuesday 20 December on the new European unitary patent. Final agreement among the 25 member states taking part in the enhanced cooperation must now be awaited before this position can be passed in plenary session.
The legal affairs committee approved the deal struck with the Council on 1 December, which has three distinct strands: the creation of the patent (on which there is co-decision making), the language regime (on which the EP has only to be consulted) and the international agreement putting in place a unified patent court (on which the EP has no locus). There is a problem, however, in that three countries - France, Germany and the United Kingdom - have been unable so far to agree on where the main court is to be located, thereby stopping all progress on the patent. The EP, in plenary session, will only be able to confirm its position once the three countries agree on where to base the court. A decision was due this week, the Polish Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers having arranged the signing ceremony of the international agreement in Warsaw on Thursday 22 December. This, of course, has had to be cancelled.
On Tuesday 20 December, Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier urged Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron to find a solution, and issued a reminder that EU leaders had called for measures that would boost growth in Europe, the European patent being one of these measures. “So let's do it”, he exclaimed. Apart from where to base the court, everything has been settled on putting in place the Community patent. The 1 December agreement allows inventors from countries that are not part of the procedure to apply for a Community patent. Special arrangements have been introduced to allow small businesses a reduction in costs and give them a sensible system on patent renewal fees. In terms of the language regime, it is proposed that EU patents be available in English, French and German. Applications for patents, however, may be submitted in any of the official EU languages. Translation costs from a language other than the three official languages will be compensated. The aim of the Community patent, which has been talked about for over 30 years, is to encourage inventiveness and reduce the costs of protection by patent in the EU. At present, European inventors have to validate their patent in each EU member state. This inevitably involves costs, especially for translation, that can make the European patent 10 times more expensive than an American one. (SP/transl.rt)