Europe needs an affordable patent regime
October 12, 2006 11:16 AM
Today the European Parliament adopted a resolution initiated by the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament urging the European Commission to explore all possible ways of improving the patent and patent litigation systems in the EU.
Now both the Parliament and Commissioner McCreevy agree that it is vital for the patent system and enforcement procedures to be made more accessible, particularly for smaller companies, and more competitive with respect to the systems in the United States and Japan.
One of the main points is that the Parliament has asked the Commission to engage in discussions about the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA). The Parliament also suggests exploring the possibility of acceding to the Munich Convention.
Sharon Bowles MEP, formerly a practising European patent attorney and author of the resolution, said:
"In the Parliament we all wish to see a Community Patent in place eventually rather than a system that is based on a different multi-national convention."
"But the Community Patent proposals as they stand now are hopelessly stuck, and the patent policy consultation that the Commission undertook earlier this year showed that a substantive change to the litigation system as well as the translation regime would be necessary."
"In practical terms the only way forward is to learn from the EPLA. This learning process can start by participation in discussions around those aspects of EPLA that need refinement and could continue with observation after six countries take the plunge which gets EPLA started."
ENDS
What would you like to do next?
-
Subscribe for updates
Follow the party's activity on...
- Twitter:
- Liberal Democrats
- Facebook:
- Liberal Democrats
- YouTube:
- Liberal Democrats