Ahead of the Competitiveness Council on 22 May, the Industry Ministers of seven EU Member States have submitted a note to their counterparts on the importance of the draft regulation on Standard Essential Patents (SEP).
They want to put the issue back on the table now that the European Commission has proposed withdrawing its April 2023 proposal on the subject (see EUROPE 13171/1). Germany initiated the note, which is supported by France, Spain, Italy, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“It is for the benefit of EU industry and users of the European patent system to facilitate negotiations on SEP licensing agreements”, say the authors of the document. They are defending a transparent and fair legal framework for access to the SEP, which is what the draft regulation aims to achieve.
As things stand, a number of players are complaining of unfair access to SEPs due to the fact that the holders of these patents are imposing costs and conditions of use that are deemed unreasonable and discriminatory.
On the other hand, some organisations, as well as the large companies that hold these patents, believe that the SEP regulation would simply add another layer of bureaucracy to the current situation.
Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands were against the SEP regulation.
However, for Germany and the six countries supporting it, “continuing discussions on the proposed SEP Regulation is the most effective way of dealing with the many problems associated with SEP licensing”.
They are therefore asking the European Commission to “withdraw the withdrawal notice”.
In April, Commission Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné promised MEPs - who were also in favour of resuming the work - that he would take their opinion and that of the Council into account before definitively withdrawing the text from the 2025 work programme (see EUROPE 13626/4).
To see the note, go to https://aeur.eu/f/gw6 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)