EU under pressure on patent agreement

Innovation is at risk if national governments continue to delay the introduction of an EU patent, the European patent office has warned.

More than 63,650 patent applications were made by EU member states, future members and candidate countries in 2005, according to the EPO, revealing a high level of innovation among European nations.

But there are still fewer applications in Europe than in the rest of the world – primarily the US and Japan – where more than 65,000 were made, the EPO said.

“European companies still use the patent system less than their competitors in the US and Japan. Not only that, usage patterns differ greatly among the European states,” said Alain Pompidou, president of the EPO.

“However, the systematic use of patents to protect technical innovations is important if the EU’s Lisbon strategy is to be a success.”

“One aim of an effective innovation policy should therefore be to develop patent use among European companies, especially small and medium-sized firms.”

A proposal for an EU-wide patent system has been on the table since 2000, but member states have refused to endorse it.

Germany and France led opposition to the European commission’s proposal that all EU patents should be in one language – English – for simplicity’s sake, while others have questioned the legal basis of the patent proposal, in particular which courts would rule on infringement cases.

But separate agreements – not brokered by the EU – on this issues have already been reached, and simply need to be endorsed by national governments, the EPO argues.

“The London agreement [on languages] would practically halve the cost of translating European patents and save European firms up to €500m per year,” said Pompidou.

“The EPLA, on the other hand, provides for the establishment of a European patent court that would give unified rulings in infringement and revocation cases generated by the 1.5 million or so European patents currently in force.”

“Both initiatives would make patent protection more accessible, particularly for small companies, and promote greater use of patents in Europe,” he added.

The commission is also looking at a number of options to kickstart the process, including a new proposal, changes to the original EU patent idea or greater harmonisation of existing national laws.

Within the EU, German companies applied for the biggest number of patents in 2005 – more than 23,700 – well ahead of France (8000), the Netherlands (7700) and the UK (4500).

At the other end of the scale were the Baltic states, with just one application in Lithuania, three in Estonia and seven in Latvia.

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