Brussels, 10/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Competition Council's compromise on the future Community Patent (see EUROPE of 4 March, p.8) has had largely positive reactions. The Luxembourg Minster for the Economy, Henri Grethen, said that he was doubly satisfied at the creation of an "efficient Patent" with a "real added value to industry", and that his country, Luxembourg, was to be the legal seat of the patent. The Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry also approved of the compromise. Its President, Christoph Leitl, said that the agreement would promote research and development and therefore contribute to the EU's eventually becoming the most competitive economy in the world.
Whilst welcoming this "important breakthrough", the German President of the Kangaroo Group, Karl von Wogau (CDU), expressed his regrets that the Community patent was more expensive than the United States equivalent, due to its language regime. The MEP, who also believes that "the expertise of the patent tribunals developed in Dusseldorf and Mannheim" should be exploited, notes that "currently 70% of legal procedures concerning patents take place in Germany" (see EUROPE of 5 March, p.18, for Klaus-Heiner Lehne's negative reaction).