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[FYI] UNICE publishes proposal for a regulation creating



UNICE publishes proposal for a regulation creating a Community patent 

UNICE has published a proposal for a regulation creating a Community
patent. One of the key aspects of the proposal is the arrangement
concerning translation of the Community patent, since it will have a
direct impact on the cost of the proposed document.  

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GENERAL MESSAGE  

At a time when innovation is acknowledged as a key element of 
economic and employment growth, the Union of Industrial and 
Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE) very much welcomes the
European Commission proposal to create a Community patent, as a step
further towards completion of the Internal Market in the field of
intellectual property.  

The costs and legal uncertainty generated by the lack of an 
integrated EU patent system are major hurdles standing in the way of
innovation in Europe. This means that European innovators, and in
particular SMEs, are at a competitive disadvantage as compared with US
and Japanese companies on their own markets in terms of patenting
costs.  

In this context, UNICE welcomes the Commission proposal to create a
Community patent, as a unitary title, granted for and valid in the
whole territory of the EU. This proposal, whose aim is to create a
cost-effective, centrally granted and uniformly litigated Community
patent, can boost transformation of European research results and
technological and scientific European know-how into commercial success
stories.  

One of the key aspects of the proposal is the arrangement concerning
translation of the Community patent since it will have a direct impact
on the cost of the proposed instrument. The Commission proposal, even
though not fully in line with UNICE’s position, will provide for a
considerable reduction in translation costs compared with the existing
system. In this context the Commission proposal should be supported.
Tampering with this crucial element would jeopardise the objective of
adopting an instrument that is cost- effective and can be used by
SMEs.  

As far as jurisdictional arrangements are concerned, UNICE would like
to stress once more that only an integrated Community court at first
and second instance comprising judges experienced in the law of patent
infringements and validity can guarantee legal certainty by providing
unity of law, procedure and case law, and cut down litigation costs.
This is one of the key aspects needed to create rightholder confidence
in the integrity of the system needed to make it attractive to use.
Thecurrent proposal meets potential rightholders’ needs in this
respect and will reduce substantially the costs linked to the current
need to litigate infrigement and validity in each member state
concerned.  

UNICE is well aware that the proposed Community Intellectual Property
Court needs to be established by way of an amendment to the EC Treaty.
UNICE deeply regrets that the Nice Summit was not able to approve a
Treaty change in order to allow creation of such a Community court,
which is one of the keys for the success of the Community patent.
UNICE hopes that on the basis of the mandate given to the Council, an
agreement on creation of a Community Intellectual Property Court will
be reached rapidly and that Member States will ensure rapid progress
on this dossier. Last but not least, UNICE welcomes the fact that the
European Patent Convention will be the substantive law applicable for
grant of the Community Patent and that strong links will be created
between the European and the Community patent system.  

Adoption of a Community Patent that can encourage innovation was
listed by the Lisbon Summit as a deliverable for 2001. UNICE hopes
that the EU will now transform the Lisbon declarations into action by
supporting this proposal without altering the judicial and translation
arrangements. By so doing, they would start building up a system that
has the potential to provide European inventors with tools similar to
those available to their main competitors in Japan or the USA.  

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See  

<http://www.unice.org/unice/docum.nsf/AllDocumentsSearchEng/6DAE4A03F
F7B1F62C12569D000364327/$File/Patent-Gen.pdf>  

<http://www.unice.org/unice/docum.nsf/AllDocumentsSearchEng/D0D7DA367
6EE5A28C12569D000367A24/$File/Patent-Detail.pdf>