BRUSSELS - The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it has launched a public consultation on how future action in patent policy to create an EU-wide system of protection can best take account of stakeholders' needs.
According to a press release by the EU, the Commission is seeking views on what measures could be taken in the near future to improve the patent system in Europe. All interested stakeholders, including industry and individuals, are encouraged to reply. The closing date is March 31, 2006.
Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: "Good intellectual property rules are essential: by stimulating innovation and leading to the successful development of new products, they help to generate growth and jobs. We want to maximize these benefits in Europe by making the single market for patents a reality. This is why I am asking businesses and individuals alike to give me their views on how we should move forward to achieve this. Meanwhile we will of course continue to strive for the Community Patent, which remains central to our policy."
The Commission is committed to boosting the competitiveness of EU industry and improving the framework conditions in which it operates. To this end, industrial property, which includes patents, has been identified as one of the seven major cross-sectoral policy initiatives in the Commission's new industrial policy put forward on October 5, 2005. As part of its commitment to Better Regulation, the Commission has launched this consultation to ensure that any new proposals in the area of EU patents policy reflect stakeholders' needs.
The consultation focuses on three major issues: the Community Patent; how the current patent system in Europe could be improved; and possible areas for harmonization. The Commission is also seeking views on what action could be taken while work on the Community Patent is continuing, in particular within the framework of the existing European patent system, or by bringing national patent systems more closely in line with each other through either approximation of laws or mutual recognition of national patents.
The legal framework for jurisdiction over patent disputes is an area of significant interest in this context.
The feedback obtained from stakeholders will form the basis of a hearing, which the Commission intends to organize in Brussels on June 13, 2006.
The questionnaire is available at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/indprop/patent/consultation_en.htm
