By Anne-France White - 19th October 2006
The German government is unhappy with the watering down of the commission's strategy on EU patents ahead of the October 20 Lahti summit.
The paper, which will be discussed by EU leaders at the summit, is reportedly less ambitious than before on the creation of a single patent court in Europe.
One sentence – outlining the need to speed up the creation of the single EU patent system – was reportedly scrapped at the last minute in the document.
EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy wants to set up an EU-wide patent and a single European patent court to replace the current system, where companies have to apply for a separate patent in the 25 member states.
But his plans have been fraught with controversy – proposals for a Community patent were shelved in 2005 amid concern that they could create too much red tape for companies.
Voting on the European Patent Litigation Agreement on October 12 – which would create one single European patent court – the European Parliament called for “significant improvements” to the text by an overwhelming majority of 494 to 109.
Germany, on the other hand, is pushing for quick progress on patents and is angry at McCreevy’s about-turn just before the Lahti meeting.
According to German press reports, Berlin plans to make the completion of the internal market one of the central themes of its EU presidency which kicks off in January 2007.
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