Industry Experts Not Impressed by EU’s Single Patent System
Leaders of the European Union agreed on 29th June to create a single EU Patent System and to establish a European patent court, which will have its headquarters in Paris with two specialised divisions in London and Munich. Most industry experts, however, have expressed their disappointment and concern over the deal.
Although Hiroshi Sheraton, of McDermott Will & Emery in London, called the agreement ‘a major breakthrough, after over 40 years of failed negotiations and discussions’, Mark Owen, of Harbottle, classified the document as ‘a huge piece of Euro-fudge. A solution which no-one can possibly think is perfect, or even nearly good enough.’
James Boon, of Bristows, stressed ‘it is possible that in practice the new regime will encourage businesses to move out of Europe.’
‘Having an EU-wide trademark and not having an EU wide patent is a weird position under EU intellectual property law, but whether creating one is a positive move, I don’t know,’ said Vanessa Barnett, partner at Charles Russell in London.
The new European patent system should make it ‘cheaper’ to get patent protection with unitary effect in most EU Member States and ‘the single court will allow disputes to be resolved once and for all for the entire continent, except Spain and Italy,’ said Sheraton. ‘It will avoid complex, expensive and potentially conflicting multi-national litigation across different EU states.’
There are fears the EU will fragment further under this attempt at harmonising Patent laws.
However, Boon said the cost saving argument is ‘likely to hold true for companies wishing to apply for a patent in a large number of states but the new unitary patent may be no cheaper than applying for a European Patent and designating two or three key territories.’ Owen went even further and called the ‘current solution a recipe for confusion and expense, precisely the two things the whole exercise was supposed to avoid.’
Owen fears ‘the EU patent will be too fragmented from the very start. The trouble is that engagement with the issue by politicians, national IP offices and the relevant professions has all come too late, and as a result reason and sense have been sacrificed.’ Barnett does not think ‘an EU patent court would have sufficient depth of specialist judges or technical expertise resources to be able to deal with the range and volume of patent claims.’
The European Parliament is expected to vote in the next few months on the agreement of the Council of Ministers.
Author: Michiel Willems
Dutchman Michiel Willems LLM MA is based in central London as an international journalist in broadcast and print, specialised in UK current affairs, e-commerce, finance, business and legal news.
Michiel studied law and journalism in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and after gaining experience in Malaysia and India he returned to London in 2008 to embark on a career in writing and reporting.
With global study and work experience and an open mind, he currently works in central London as an associate editor, writer, voice over professional and radio reporter. Michiel has developed a great interest in the facts behind the headlines, the stories behind the statistics and the people behind the news.
His specialties are writing news stories, features, editorial comments, catchy standfirsts, drop quotes, captions, headers and headlines, commissioning, editing, conducting interviews, managing publications’ flatplans, radio reporting and gathering large amounts of information within a relatively small amount of time.
Michiel usually approaches a story from an original, relevant angle and likes to come up with fresh ideas for news stories and in-depth features. He speaks to a wide number of sources across the political, financial, business, legal and e-commerce sectors on a daily basis. Michiel has a broad network of contacts, in the UK as well as overseas, mainly consisting of bankers, lawyers, lobbyists, consultants, entrepreneurs, payment processors, regulators, trade associations, policymakers and politicians.
