一覧に戻る Enhanced Patent System for Europe

December 4, 2009: The Council of the European Union achieves a political breakthrough on an enhanced European patent system

On December 4, 2009, the Council of the European Union unanimously approved an enhanced patent system for Europe, giving an important political signal for innovation. The package agreed on covers major elements designed to bring about a single EU patent and to establish a new patent court in the EU.

The intention is to make it less costly for businesses to protect innovative technology and to make litigation more accessible and predictable. The agreement is regarded as an important step in solving the outstanding issues which need to be resolved in order to achieve a major reform of the EU patent system.

European Commission Vice President Günter Verheugen, Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, stated:

"Making patenting less costly and more efficient was very high on the policy agenda since many years. In fact it was a priority of the Reform Partnership for Growth and Jobs, since it is a precondition for fostering innovation and competitiveness. Therefore, today's agreement cannot be overestimated. It comes at a moment when it is most needed."

Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said:

"I welcome this political breakthrough as a very strong signal from the Council that the EU is committed to achieve a true single market for patents. A number of issues remain to be resolved and we undertake to work closely with the Council and the Parliament towards achieving a final package that will meet the trust and confidence of users."

Patents Court:

The Council agreement encompasses a large part of what are regarded as the main features of a future patent court in the EU:

• A specialised patent court will allow cases to be heard before judges with the high levels of legal and technical expertise in patents. A unified court will also mean that parties do not have to incur high costs through parallel litigation in multiple countries.

• The court will include local and central chambers under a common court of appeals.

Now that this political agreement has been concluded, the Council will wait for a legal opinion from the European Court of Justice. In June 2009, the Council submitted a request to the European Court of Justice to determine the compatibility of a draft agreement on a unified patent litigation system with the EU Treaties. The draft agreement concerns the establishment of a "mixed agreement" between the EU, its Member States and third countries who are Contracting States of the European Patent Convention, regarding the creation of a patent litigation court (referred to as the European and EU Patents Court, EEUPC).

EU Patent:

On December 4, 2009 the ministers also agreed on an approach to an EU Patent Regulation. The Regulation was originally proposed by the Commission in 2000 under the Lisbon strategy, but negotiations stalled in 2004. The creation of a unitary EU Patent (as compared to the current European patent consisting of a bundle of national patents) would help to lower the cost of European patents, which can be considerably more expensive than their US or Japanese counterparts.

However, the creation of the EU patent will depend on finding a solution for the translation arrangements, which will be subject of a separate Regulation. The Regulation regarding the translation arrangements will require unanimity among the EU Member States (according to Article 118 second paragraph of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). Currently, particularly the Spanish and Italian governments maintain their position that the EU patent should be translated into their official languages.

A common understanding has also been reached on renewal fees and the cooperation between patent offices.

• Renewal fees will be set at a level to facilitate European innovation and foster competitiveness.

• Furthermore, the EU patent will involve partnerships between patent offices in Europe, which may create synergies, bring about more rapid delivery of patents,and bring innovative products and services to the market more quickly.

As a next step, the European Parliament will have the opportunity to debate the EU Patent Regulation.

Further information can be found on the website of the European Commission at the following link:

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/patent/index_en.htm

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