EU takes big step towards common patent system

EUobserver said:

As part of the deal, industry ministers meeting in Brussels reached a political agreement on the setting up of a single EU-patent to replace the multitude of national patents that innovators are currently forced to acquire to protect their products.

The ministers also reached a deal on the establishment of a EU patent court system that would see the setting up of a single European appeals courts for patent infringement disputes.

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Great. Good for business.

Now if only the UN would do what it should and do the same thing for the world. Oh, and enforce it.

Now if only the UN would do what it should and do the same thing for the world. Oh, and enforce it.

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Are you kidding? Copyright is a government granted monopoly that only applies to a specific nation. In the U.S. for example, it is only authorized to promote science and the arts. It only applies to countries which are party to the Berne convention. The U.N. has no authority to dictate domestic affairs to sovereign nations.

Exactly how is this patent system going to run? Are they going to prevent impossibly stupid things like business and software patents? Will it have the resources to actually examine every patent from an entire continent? Creating a unified policy makes sense if everyone is on the same page, but only if the policy doesn't suck horribly.

rathi said:

Exactly how is this patent system going to run? Are they going to prevent impossibly stupid things like business and software patents? Will it have the resources to actually examine every patent from an entire continent? Creating a unified policy makes sense if everyone is on the same page, but only if the policy doesn't suck horribly.

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They are most likely going to standardise the process and rules across the EU, so that countries cant gain competitive advantages over others based on patents and so on.

As for "preventing".. why? Why would they prevent anything?

Maximus Zeebra said:

Great. Good for business.

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Want to give us a link? This is quite a tricky issue because on the one hand there is a need for people to earn money from what they create/invent but on the other there is an enormous potential for abuse of the system when it comes to things like medicine. One such example is how remedies are often illegitimately patented by large corporations. Thus leaving these medicines inaccessible for those that create them. As a whole the overpricing of medicines that people need to live is also a huge issue.

However this being the E.U all these decisions will be made behind closed doors with zero accountability. This in an institution that wont even give us a vote on our own constitution.

rathi said:

Exactly how is this patent system going to run? Are they going to prevent impossibly stupid things like business and software patents? Will it have the resources to actually examine every patent from an entire continent? Creating a unified policy makes sense if everyone is on the same page, but only if the policy doesn't suck horribly.

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I dont think the European system will encourage the same flaws as in the US. I dont have the technical specifications yet, but I believe a European wide patent system will be something quite different from the American and Japanese version we know. It will also cover things such as historical right to names, geolocation names on products and such things in addition to traditional patens and such.

Red_Dave said:

Want to give us a link? This is quite a tricky issue because on the one hand there is a need for people to earn money from what they create/invent but on the other there is an enormous potential for abuse of the system when it comes to things like medicine. One such example is how remedies are often illegitimately patented by large corporations. Thus leaving these medicines inaccessible for those that create them. As a whole the overpricing of medicines that people need to live is also a huge issue.

However this being the E.U all these decisions will be made behind closed doors with zero accountability. This in an institution that wont even give us a vote on our own constitution.

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Sorry..

EUobserver / EU takes big step towards common patent system

What is your obession with accountibility when it comes to the EU? They are accountable, but they create much bette policies than national governments who certainly are not being held accountable.

Red_Dave said:

Want to give us a link? This is quite a tricky issue because on the one hand there is a need for people to earn money from what they create/invent but on the other there is an enormous potential for abuse of the system when it comes to things like medicine. One such example is how remedies are often illegitimately patented by large corporations. Thus leaving these medicines inaccessible for those that create them. As a whole the overpricing of medicines that people need to live is also a huge issue.

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yes those are issues, but that often has nothing to do with patents per say. For one the overpricing issue has nothing to do with patents, but enforcement of anti-competitive rules and not putting in legislation that promotes such behaviour.

As for the companies buying up patents to "shelve" them..well that has been around for decades and is hard to stop, because it is often hard to prove.

However this being the E.U all these decisions will be made behind closed doors with zero accountability. This in an institution that wont even give us a vote on our own constitution.

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The EU has no legal right to demand a vote on anything really. It is still up the individual states and their governments, so take your anger there, not to the EU.

As for being "behind closed doors".. hog wash. Thanks to the Lisbon treaty you now have even more access to legislation than you have in many countries. Not only is your own government involved in preparing the legislation and standards, but also your elected MEPs are heavily involved and in the end have to vote for or against it.