Interview mit Michael Barnier

Michel Barnier Commissioner for Internal Market & Services EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Am 02.12. und 03.12.2010 findet der 4. Pan-European-Intellectual-Property-Summit in Brüssel statt.

Der Veranstalter "Premier Cercle" teilte mit, dass bereits drei EU-Komissare (GD-Binnenmarkt und Dienstleistungen,GD-Handel und GD-Informationsgesellschaft und Medien, sowie dei Präsidenten des EPA und des HABM) ihre Teilnahme zugesagt haben. Dabei wird die europäische Patentreform, sowie branchenspezifische Aspekte des geistigen Eigentums erläutert und diskutiert.

Einige Gedanken, die hier vom Veranstalter auf seiner Einladung formuliert sind, nachfolgend in englischer Sprache, die zeigen, an welcher Stelle der Modernisierung wir uns derzeit befinden:

Premier Cercle: "The idea of a Community patent has been discussed since the mid 70s. Two attempts have failed. The third one which is underway since the year 2000 has again run into some difficulties…

The current patent system in Europe is characterized by the lack of unitary patent protection for the territory of the EU.

European patents are granted by the European Patent Office (EPO ) as bundle of national patents. The result is a fragmented market and the lack of legal certainty and consistency in terms of patent protection and litigation. Under the current system, a European patent covering 13 Member States is more than 10 times more expensive than, for example, a US patent. Our current patent system is simply not fit for the 21st century. This stifles innovation and there is a price to pay in terms of growth and employment.

The creation of the EU patent is now part of a comprehensive patent reform package which involves the creation of a common specialist patent court and various accompanying measures. We have been carefully listening to the needs of patent applicants, especially SMEs. The current proposal on the translation regulation has been tailored to fit their business needs best.

I am hopeful that Member States are willing to listen this time.

PC: As regards language arrangements, what are the chances for success of the proposal for a Council Regulation the Commission proposed on 30 June 2010? What economies would involve a patent applicable on the entire territory of the EU, when compared to an average EPO patent covering 5 or 6 States?

The Commission's recent proposal builds on the EPO's tried and tested regime with 3 possible languages, and simplifies considerably the translation regime after grant of the patent. In future, no translation will be required after grant of the EU patent in the official language chosen by the applicant. Indeed, the EU patent must provide a high degree of legal certainty by avoiding ambiguities which may result from translations in different languages.

It is important that innovators have the option to protect their inventions at an affordable cost with a single patent covering the entire EU territory with minimum translation costs and without needing to validate that patent at a national level.

Compared to today, where most Member States still require costly translations of the patent before it can take effect on their territory. The EU patent promises major cost savings for innovative businesses seeking patent protection for the whole territory of the EU. Today, users naturally shrink the patent protection of their inventions because of the high translation and related costs and artificially limit the territorial scope of their patents only to a few States.

With the single EU patent, they will therefore be able to obtain EU-wide protection, at a much lower cost. The figures speak for themselves: for a European patent taking effect in only 13 Member States, the patent proprietor must today spend some 14.000 to 20.000 EUR for translations and related costs only; while for the EU patent yielding protection in all 27 EU Member States, translation costs will be down to 680 EUR. On top of that will come further savings; as local validation requirements, including fees and administrative red-tape imposed today in each State for validating European patents will also be done away with.

Currently companies spend between 205 and 230 million EUR on translations, validations and professional charges every year. We can save these costs for them, making these funds available for investing further into innovation instead.

I am committed to finding a solution on the language regime for the EU patent. I hope that a decision may be reached on this issue as a matter of urgency, making patents available in Europe to all, at drastically reduced costs.

PC: What solutions could be envisaged in case of a political stalemate on the language issue? Could the patent jurisdiction issue be disconnected? Would reinforced co-operation be a possibility for those Member States wishing to go ahead with a single patent?

At this stage, we should base our efforts upon the Conclusions which our Ministers adopted on 4 December 2009 and the EU 2020 Strategy, as endorsed by the European Council, clearly stating that fostering European competitiveness is dependent on improving the conditions for companies to innovate, including via the establishment of an EU patent. I remain committed to achieving a comprehensive patent reform involving all 27 Member States. I am confident that our all Member States are committed to regain European competitiveness and that we will be able to find common agreement. However, there is a real urgency. If we do not manage to make real progress in the next few weeks, we will need to explore all the options that the Lisbon Treaty offers.

 

Michel Barnier (born January 9,1951) is currently the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, since February 2010. He is a French politician, Political Advisor of the UMP (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire) and Vice President of the European People's Party (EPP). He has assumed the duty of Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in the French government from 18 June 2007 to 7 June 2009, before being elected to the European Parliament. He is Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (Legion of Honour).
On December 2, 2010, Michel Barnier will pronounce the keynote Opening Address to introduce the pan-European Intellectual Property Summit 2010."