[A2k] Re: [Ecommerce] EU: Plan for European patent court may fail (EPLA)

[Jeff Williams]

Michelle and/or anyone,

  What is the direction in the  EU now with respect to copyright?

Michelle Childs wrote:

> <snip> Europe's industry ministers met on Monday to discuss how to
> establish the long-planned European Patent Litigation Agreement which
> would commit its signatory states to an integrated judicial system for
> patent disputes, including uniform rules of procedure and a common appeal
> court. They discussed long-standing problems with the proposal and failed
> to come to any agreement.
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/12/plan_for_european_patent_court_ma=
y_fail/
>
> Plan for European patent court may fail, says EU Commissioner
> Bickering over details to blame
>
> By OUT-LAW.COM &#8594;
> Published Tuesday 12th December 2006 11:00 GMT
>
>  The EU Internal Markets Commissioner has warned that Europe is about to
> miss out on a chance to forge a pan-European patent disputes forum
> because of long-standing international bickering on what a system might
> look like.
>
> Following further fruitless discussions between European countries this
> week, Charlie McCreevy has warned that the entire plan could stall.
> =93Anything remotely concerning this patent area is fraught with minefiel=
ds
> at every turn of the road,=94 McCreevy told the Financial Times.
>
> Europe's industry ministers met on Monday to discuss how to establish the
> long-planned European Patent Litigation Agreement which would commit its
> signatory states to an integrated judicial system for patent disputes,
> including uniform rules of procedure and a common appeal court. They
> discussed long-standing problems with the proposal and failed to come to
> any agreement.
>
> France said it wanted any EPLA to be taken out of the hands of the
> European Patent Office (EPO) and put into the control of Europe's existin=
g
> courts system. Others, too, have questioned the accountability of an EPLA
> tied to the EPO and not to the EU itself.
>
> Belgium reportedly argued that entry into an EPLA agreement should be
> voluntary, and that countries should not be forced into the scheme by
> European decree.
>
> McCreevy sought permission from the national ministers to negotiate on al=
l
> of the EU's behalf for entry into the EPLA scheme. That was not given.
>
> McCreevy has already amended his EPLA plans this year. The European
> Parliament objected to a motion on joining the EPLA on grounds of
> accountability, cost and the prospect that it would make software patents
> more likely.
>
> Members of the Parliament proposed their own, softened, version of
> McCreevy's motion, which they passed in October this year. That motion
> said that the Parliament "considers that the proposed [EPLA] text needs
> significant improvements, which address concerns about democratic control=
,
> judicial independence and litigation costs, and a satisfactory proposal
> for the Rules of Procedure of the EPLA Court."
>
> After this latest setback McCreevy told the Financial Times that he was
> "pessimistic" that any progress would ever be made.
>
> =93I thought what we were proposing here would not be that difficult for
> member states to accept," he said. "But anything of significance is
> becoming increasingly difficult to to make progress on.=94
>
> A separate plan for a Community Patent has also failed to make significan=
t
> progress since being proposed by the European Commission in 2000. It woul=
d
> give inventors the option of obtaining a single patent that would be
> legally valid throughout the European Union, saving significant costs in
> the protection of an invention. But a failure to agree on the requirement=
s
> for the translation of patents and on how infringements of patents which
> might arise as a result of mistranslations should be treated has stalled
> progress.
>
> Copyright =A9 2006, OUT-LAW.com
>
> OUT-LAW.COM is part of international law firm Pinsent Masons.
>
> --
> Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
> Consumer Project on Technology in London
> 24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
> Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
> Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
> http://www.cptech.org
>
> Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
> 1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA .Tel.:
> +1.202.332.2670,Fax: +1.202.332.2673
>
> Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
> 1 Route des  Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
> Tel: +41 22 791 6727
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Ecommerce@lists.essential.org
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Regards,

--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
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