Brussels, 10/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - After a decade of debate, the EU may finally get a European patent on Tuesday, once the final vote is given at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Ministers in charge of competitiveness gave a positive signal to this effect on Monday 10 December when they agreed in principle on the matter. The European patent will enable individuals and companies from within the EU and elsewhere in the world to patent their inventions for a low cost throughout the EU27, apart from Italy and Spain, which are boycotting the European patent system for the moment. What will also be necessary is agreement from the European Court of Justice about introducing the European patent by means of enhanced cooperation without Spain and Italy, which disagree because the language system for the new patent does not include Spanish or Italian. In 2011, the two countries tried to get the European patent plans annulled by the European Court of Justice, which is due to issue general conclusions on the case on Tuesday.
Presented as an engine for growth, the new European patent is expected to boost the EU's innovative capacity. Last year, some 224,000 patents were lodged in the United States, 172,000 in China, but only 60,000 across Europe. The new patent should make life easier for companies, especially small businesses and individuals, by cutting the cost of patent protection, such as translation costs for ensuring a patent is protected in a number of countries. At the end of a transition period, the cost of a patent should be €5,000, compared with €36,000 today, according to figures given by the European Commission. The agreement reached on Monday by competitiveness ministers and the expected positive vote on Tuesday by the European Parliament only cover the bones of the patent system, and further talks will be needed on how income from patent fees is to be divided up among participating member states and how the legal system will work in practice (with local and regional courts). The system will have to be ratified by at least 13 of the countries signing the agreement to set up a patent dispute court before the first patent can be issued, which the Commission says will not be before the spring of 2014.
When did the European patent idea arise? The idea was mooted back in 1957 when the EEC was created, explains the European Parliament's website. A “unified community patent” could have been created under an agreement in Munich in 1973, but the agreement never came into force. Another failed attempt was made with the Luxembourg agreement in 1989. In 1997, the European Commission published a White Paper on the European patent, followed by tangible proposals in 2000, followed by revised proposals in 2004, which failed each time because of arguments about official languages. The current patent proposals date from April 2011.
Patent legislation. There are three draft items of legislation for the European patent - a regulation setting it up (binding legislation prepared in co-decision with the European Parliament); a regulation on the language system (on which the European Parliament is consulted); and a draft international agreement, in which the European Parliament has no role as such. Reports have been drawn up for all three items, which have been negotiated as a single package, hence the delays.
Who would be involved? Why? Twenty-five member states would be involved in the enhanced cooperation as a way of getting round the patent boycott by Spain and Italy because it would be in three official languages (English, French and German) but not in Spanish or Italian. The actual lodging of a patent at the European Patents Office in Munich will be possible in any official EU language, but patent details would then have to be translated into English, French or German. Rome and Madrid are unhappy that their languages are not included and have lodged an appeal against this enhanced cooperation at the European Court of Justice. The language system includes a transition period during which the translation costs would be refunded for individuals, non-profit organisations, academia, publicly-funded research bodies and small businesses registered in the EU27 (including those registered in Italy and Spain).
How will disputes be settled? After bitter negotiations, the future patent dispute court will have a central court with three separate headquarters - Paris, London and Munich - three cities each claiming special expertise (physics for Paris, chemistry and pharmacy for London and mechanics for Munich). The court of appeal will be in Luxembourg. How judges will be appointed and how much money the courts will have at their disposal has yet to be decided. The decision to split the central court three ways has generated ire at the European Parliament. In June, heads of state agreed to split the court, ignoring an agreement already reached with the European Parliament by scrapping three articles from the patent regulation on the role of the European Court of Justice. The European Parliament does not want the Court of Justice to be removed from the system and has been granted something in return, namely an article in the draft international agreement setting out the Court of Justice's role in interpreting EU law. The new patent court will be required to refer to the Court of Justice for interpretations of the two patent regulations, explains a Commission document. Not a very harmonious outcome. (SP/transl.fl)