Harney Describes EU Patent Deal As 'Litmus Test' For European Competitiveness

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

12 March 2004

Speaking on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting on the issue in Brussels, Irish Tanaiste Mary Harney suggested that the efforts made by EU member states in order to reach agreement on a common EU patent will demonstrate how serious the European Union is about increasing its competitiveness against the United States and Asia.

Under the current, fractured system, EU-wide patents are prohibitively expensive to obtain due to various administrative and filing requirements. There are also a number of enforcement issues which need to be addressed, such as the necessity of bringing infringement cases, or challenges to the validity of a patent in each affected member state, and the possibility of different interpretations of patent law as a result.

However, progress on the Community Patent negotiations stalled last year because the EU's Competitiveness Council failed to reach agreement over the time period for the filing of translations of the patent application with the European Patent Office.

Speaking on her way to yesterday's meeting, Ms Harney observed that:

"We in the Irish presidency have worked very hard to try and forge a compromise on the patent. We think it's a litmus test on the role of the Competitiveness Council and we will be working hard to try and bridge the differences."

She went on to add:

"The patent is very important in the context of encouraging innovation and greater levels of research. If we want the best research and development to stay in Europe, we have to help protect the innovations."

Recommended