Within the ‘patent package’ proposed by the European Commission in April 2023 (see EUROPE 13171/1), the regulation on standard essential patents (SEPs) poses a problem. SEPs protect a technology that is essential for compliance with a certain standard. In particular, they apply to connected objects. While the European Parliament adopted its position last year (see EUROPE 13360A10), the EU Council is not ready to follow suit. Several Member States, including Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden, are highly critical of the text. One of the main reasons for this is the bureaucracy that the future regulation will add for companies holding patents.
The Polish presidency of the EU Council intends to put the issue on the agenda for the next six months, with technical meetings, but it does not aim to reach an agreement between the EU27, according to two sources close to the matter. The Hungarian and Belgian presidencies before it did not delve into this complex issue.
The new rules proposed by the European Commission have major implications for both the authorities and the private sector: they create new powers for the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and add new obligations for patent holders.
All these measures run counter to the EU’s objectives of reducing bureaucracy and supporting business competitiveness, according to critics of the proposal.
On the other hand, companies that use licences in the digital technology and automotive sectors are calling on the co-legislators to move forward with this proposal, which they consider beneficial for broadening the use of patents. They also share the Commission’s and Parliament’s view that patents’ terms of use are not always correct.
In order to reconcile the interests of patent holders and licence users, lengthy and complex work is required on the text, according to a source close to the matter. It is therefore out of the question that an agreement will be reached at Member State level in the next six months. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)