[A2k] Re: [Ecommerce] EU: Plan for European patent court may
fail (EPLA)
Michelle Childs
michelle.childs@cptech.org
Wed Dec 20 09:52:14 2006
The Copyright aquis( law) is to be reviewed next year. Though it is not
yet clear how broad or narrow this review will be. There is also a
proposal to extend the term for sound recordings which will also be
considered next year. This will give a guide to their current thinking.
Michelle
> 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_m=
ay_fail/
>>
>> Plan for European patent court may fail, says EU Commissioner
>> Bickering over details to blame
>>
>> By OUT-LAW.COM →
>> 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
>> minefields
>> 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
>> existing
>> 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
>> all
>> 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
>> significant
>> progress since being proposed by the European Commission in 2000. It
>> would
>> 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
>> requirements
>> 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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>> http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/ecommerce
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Jeffrey A. Williams
> Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
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--
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