LONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive
arm has proposed a single bloc-wide litigation system for
defending patents, a move that would cut legal costs for
companies.
A cheap one-stop system for filing and defending a patent in
the EU to nurture new business ideas has been a goal for decades
but thwarted by disagreement over which languages and court
structure to use.
The European Commission formally asked the bloc's member
states on Tuesday for a mandate to set up a unified patent
litigation system that would have jurisdiction over existing
European patents and a future single EU community patent.
This would avoid the need for a company to defend a patent
in several national courts, a costly process.
"European businesses find the current patent litigation
system complex, slow and costly," EU Internal Market
Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said in a statement.
By 2013 a unified court system would save 148-289 million
euros ($202 million to $394 million) a year, the Commission
said.
Lobbyists for smaller firms welcomed the move.
"We hope this development will give a new impetus to the
conclusion of negotiations on the community patent," said
Jonathan Zuck, president of the Association for Competitive
Technology.
"Small and medium-sized firms cannot wait for it, they need
it today," he said.
A new system of courts would give a role to the EU's top
court, the European Court of Justice. It would need backing from
the bloc's 27 member states and the wider group of 35 nations
party to the European Patent Convention.
The ECJ will be asked for an opinion on the compatibility of
the Commission's plans with EU treaty rules.
"In parallel, outstanding issues concerning other components
of the patent reform package such as the regulation on the
community patent and the relationship between the EU and the EPO
(European Patent Office) will likewise have to be addressed,"
the European Commission said.
(Editing by Dale Hudson)
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