Brussels, 19/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European unitary patent finally began to take shape in Brussels on Tuesday 19 February when member states signed the international agreement allowing creation of the future European Unified Patent Court. The Irish Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers had organised a ceremony to this end.
The need for an international agreement was made necessary by the 2011 decision to move forward in enhanced cooperation on the European unitary patent after refusal by two member states, Italy and Spain, to sign up to the linguistic regime chosen. On Tuesday, Spain, quite logically, did not sign up to the agreement, unlike Italy which rallied to it and will finally take part in the system approved by the other 25 EU member states. Two other countries were also unable to sign the agreement - Poland and Bulgaria - a Council source said. Although Bulgaria is expected to sign up to it in the near future, debate is trickier in Poland. The fact that they do not sign up to the agreement will not, however, prevent the agreement from taking effect given that a quorum of 13 states is required and because the three heavy-weights in favour of the patent in Europe - namely Germany, the United Kingdom and France - have already given their agreement. On Monday, Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier did not conceal his relief at seeing the dossier reach its conclusion and begin to take concrete shape. Pointing out that the unitary patent will reduce current costs of patent deposit and issuance by 80%, mainly by cutting back on translation costs, Barnier spoke of the expediency of having a unified judicial system, as companies in litigation no longer have to submit their dossiers to the courts of all countries where their invention is protected.
The remaining stage, however, is just as important. Signatory countries will now set in place a preparation committee that will be responsible for settling all practical aspects of the future Unified Patents Court, mainly internal rules of procedure, the budget (the system will, for example, fund itself in time with the proceeds of patent registration or renewal), the training of the judges, etc. As Barnier said, “we are almost there but there is still some way to go”, and the long road taken by the patent does not come to an end with the December agreement or the signing ceremony (on 19 February). (SP/transl.jl)