Ministers back EU patent plans

Spain, Italy object to common patent regime.

EU ministers for competitiveness today (10 March) approved setting up a common patent regime in 25 member states.

The ministers, meeting in Brussels for the competitiveness council, endorsed a proposal to use the enhanced co-operation mechanism to allow for the creation of a common patent regime. Only Spain and Italy, which object to the common patent on linguistic grounds, declined to take part.

Zoltán Cséfalvay, Hungary’s minister for the national economy, who was chairing the meeting, said: “Today is a historic day for innovation and the internal market. Under the Hungarian presidency, the stars have aligned for European patent reform for the first time in almost 50 years.”

The Spanish and Italian governments last year vetoed attempts to set up an EU-wide patent regime because patent applications could only be filed in English, French or German. The Spanish government is expected to challenge the use of enhanced co-operation in the EU’s Court of Justice, arguing that it undermines single-market principles by putting Spanish companies at a competitive disadvantage.

Enhanced co-operation allows a group of member states to go ahead with projects that do not receive the backing of all 27 member states. At least nine member states must take part, it must be supported by a weighted majority of member states and it must not undermine the single market. The European Commission argues that using enhanced co-operation to set up a common patent regime helps the single market because patents are currently dealt with by individual member states.

The Commission will now come forward with a detailed proposal on the common patent regime. The Commission will also have to come up with a proposal for a patent litigation system. Plans to set up a specialist patent court were dealt a blow this week when the EU’s Court of Justice said that the proposals were not compatible with EU treaties. However, the Commission believes that the legal problems highlighted by the court opinion can be resolved.

The aim of creating a common patent system is to reduce the cost of obtaining a patent that is valid in all member states. Obtaining a patent in the US can cost as little as €2,000 while obtaining a EU-wide patent would cost ten times as much.

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