Brussels makes ‘final’ EU patent push

A last ditch push for a low-cost, EU-wide patent will be launched by the European commission on Monday.

New proposals are set to be opposed by the coalition of campaigners that sank software patent legislation last year.

European Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy will make “one final effort” to find EU consensus on intellectual property protection.

The EU has remained deadlocked over long standing European patent proposals with the last round of rows focused on what languages should be used for the patent regime.

Legislation was first tabled in 2000, under Romano Prodi's commission, and McCreevy is determined that to acheive closure on the file under his term - before 2009.

"He does not want to be the commissioner who hands over this dossier to his successor," said a Brussels spokesman.

Patents cost around €10,000 in the US but in the EU prices, and rules, vary across 25 countries from between €37,000 to €57,000 creating barriers for EU innovation.

Proposals – in a commission consultation document – will go beyond previous versions and include mutual recognition of differing national regimes.

McCreevy is hoping that the new paper, which does not commit the commission to new action on the patent, will spark debate and put the issue back on the EU agenda.

The consultations finishes on March 31 and the commission is planning a hearing on the proposals on June 13.

Anti-software patent campaigners are warning that the EU patent project may bring legislation rejected by the European parliament last summer “by the back door”.

In a setback for McCreevy the European parliament last July threw out proposals setting an EU-wide approach to ‘computer implemented inventions’.

Campaigners are concerned that under the new proposals the European Patent Office (EPO) will apply case law to software.

Anti-software patent campaigner Florian Mueller is concerned that the legislation will see the EPO “declare US-style software patents legal in the EU”.

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