Reforming Patent Law

Talks about establishing a patent valid throughout the EU have been stalled for years. This week, the bloc's internal market commissioner issued a consultation paper aimed at making life easier for the continent's innovators.

The new plan aims to improve the current system and make progress towards the "community patent."

"The communication will not perform a magic trick. I will not be pulling a rabbit out of a hat. But I will be putting some constructive suggestions forward," said Charlie McCreevy, inernal market and services commissioner.

National issue

At present, as the commission paper points out: "The European patent is not a unitary title; it is a bundle of national patents."

At the European Patent Office in Munich, the 200,000 or so patent applications filed each year have to list every single country in which protection from piracy is sought. The patent also has to be translated into German, English and French, as well as the official languages of the countries concerned.

All this comes at a considerable price. The paper says that recent studies have shown that a European patent designating 13 countries is 11 times more expensive than a US patent and 13 times more than a Japanese one once translation and processing costs are taken into consideration.

Language problem

The London Agreement, an initiative to streamline the system, is currently on ice. It would only require the main body of the patent to be written in the applicant's language and translated into either English, French or German. But many EU countries have refused to sign up and the agreement itself will not go into force until it has been ratified by France.

Jürgen Thumann, the head of the German Industry Confederation, thinks it is crucial that progress should be made on this issue.

"The language question seems to be completely beyond resolution. In times of global challenges Europe faces becoming embroiled in complex translation rules for patent documents," Thumann said. "The London Agreement could considerably reduce these obligations. It would sink costs considerably."

A businessman himself, Thumann knows only too well how costly it can be to register a patent. Westfalia, a subsidiary of his company, recently developed a flexible and gas impermeable metal pipe that can be used in truck exhausts. The firm has just patented the idea.

Costly

"I can tell you, if you want to have a patent valid for more than 50 countries then it will quickly set you back several hundred thousand euros. We are really talking about a lot of money here," said Thumann.

The commission document also highlights another problem with the existing system. It states: "There is no present jurisdiction for disputes on European patents which raise issues which go beyond the borders of one state."

Litigation can be extremely costly, involving court costs, fees for lawyers, patent attorneys or experts, costs of witnesses, technical investigations and possibly interpreters' and translators' charges.

Specialized body

The commission is proposing creating a specialized patent judiciary that would also have responsibility for community patents if they are introduced.

Commissioner McCreevy is hoping that he can break the current deadlock. "In today's increasingly competitive global economy Europe cannot afford to lose ground in an area as crucial as patent policy," he said. "That is why I propose to have a fresh look at the various options and to work with the Council and the Parliament towards political consensus on real improvement of the patent system," he said.

German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries also backs his plan. Germany remains holder of the rotating EU presidency until the end of June. She hopes to use the time to kickstart the deadlocked negotiations.