[Ip-health] EU Commission initial findings on Patent policy

[Michelle Childs]

The EU Commission recently held a consultation on patent policy in the EU.
Cptech responded
http://www.cptech.org/a2k/cptechECPatconsultation-12april06.pdf .

'The commission received more than 2,500 replies to its consultation, of
which it says nearly 1,500 were from individuals. The remainder were from
lobby groups and industry associations.'

The Commission has just published its initial findings based on the
consultation
.http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/docs/patent/preliminary_findin=
gs_en.pdf.

In addition the Commission will hold a  public hearing next week, which I
will be attending. Details of the hearing:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/patent/hearing_en.htm

A summary of  some of the findings is in the article below

Michelle


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/04/patent_europe/

IT set to dominate European patents debate
Initial findings published, hearing next week

By Lucy Sherriff
Published Tuesday 4th July 2006 14:18 .

The European Commission has published the initial findings from its public
consultation on Europe's patent system, revealing deep divisions within
the business community on how best to proceed, but also a consensus that
something must be done.

The findings have been published ahead of a public hearing in Brussels on
12 July.

Despite the consultation not being specific to software patents, the IT
industry was by far the largest group that responded, either as
individuals or as part of lobby groups. The pharmaceutical sector was the
next largest voice, but was still dwarfed by the technologists' response,
illustrating just what an important issue this has become for developers,
large and small.

The commission received more than 2,500 replies to its consultation, of
which it says nearly 1,500 were from individuals. The remainder were from
lobby groups and industry associations.

Broadly, there is agreement that the way patents are handled in Europe
should be improved: nearly everyone who responded is happy with the idea
of a community patent. However, the current proposal has been "universally
rejected" because of an "unsatisfactory language regime and inadequate
jurisdictional arrangements".

The main themes that will be debated at the meeting next week are the
balance of cost and quality, how to promote innovation, and which language
any pan-European system should be administered in.

The crux of the issue for many is how to make the system accessible and
affordable, while keeping the quality of patents issued high. Both The
Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), and IT industry
association EICTA agree that this is vital, but their approaches are
different:

EICTA says the key to this lies in a review of the inventive step
requirement, a more rigorous quality control system, and better searching
of prior art.

In a statement endorsed by over 1,000 people, the FFII says the priority
of any patenting system has to be the promotion of innovation and the
dissemination of knowledge.

The deepest division is over language. One camp is in favour of a single
language regime, with all patents being issued in English. But the rest
want a multi-language system, with each patent being translated into the
language of each country. Patent lawyers mostly fall into the second
group.

The lawyers were most concerned about the cost/quality balance, but also
stressed that a decent patent system is far from the only thing needed to
promote innovation.

All these groups will be meeting to debate these issues, and the rest, in
Brussels next week. Forty representatives from the 2,500 respondents will
make presentations, and delegates will also hear from Commissioner Charlie
McCreevy, and Alain Pompidou, the head of the European patent office. =AE



--
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