On December 11th the European Parliament approved the proposal made by the Competitiveness Council at Ministerial level to create a “unitary” patent that would cover 25 member states (Spain and Italy opposed the system due to languages reasons). SMEs will in addition benefit from lower fees. Read more
Bruegel blog
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The Unitary patent: challenges still ahead
17th December 2012
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Patent Failures
14th October 2010
Resident Scholar Bruno van Pottelsberghe discusses the problems that the patent systems face in both the U.S. and Europe. In the States, the lax standards for patent applications has created an enormous backlog and quality has become an issue. In Europe, on the other hand, the patent system is too fragmented to work properly. While the US needs a quality lift; Europe needs political leadership and a new governance, says Bruno van Pottelsberghe of the Bruegel think tank.Patent systems have been created to give the private sector an incentive to innovate. The patent deal grants a monopolistic power to the inventor for the exploitation of his or her invention, in exchange for the publication of the invention and some renewal… Read more
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A Long March to an EU Patent?
17th December 2009
Senior Resident Fellow Bruno van Pottelsberghe discusses the next steps policymakers need to take after EU industry ministers agreed on a package on 4 December that may pave the way for a European community patent (COMPAT). Discussing the effects of such a patent, van Pottelsberghe points to his recent working paper on the costs and benefits of the COMPAT and argues that national decision-makers must act so as not to get leapfrogged by China and other developing economies. Forty-seven years after the first call for a Community patent, the EU may have taken the first step.The package agreed by EU industry ministers on 4 December may pave the way for an „EU' or community patent – but, if it does,… Read more