On 3 April, the European Commission presented a communication proposing a harmonised patent litigation system in Europe, leaving it to the European Parliament and Council to take the issue forward [...].
Harrie Temmink of the intellectual property unit at the Commission's trade directorate told the meeting that the German presidency will hold three meetings on the patent issue in May and June. He said that the communication was meant to restart negotiations on a harmonised court system, hoping it could lead to a single patent system in Europe, which he said remains a top IP priority for the Commission.
Erik Nooteboom, head of the industrial property unit at the Commission's trade directorate, said that 'we have entered the last round,' emphasising that this was an attempt to force member states to take a stand and show their positions. He said that France, for example, had first supported a proposal for a European patent court (European Patent Litigation Agreement, or EPLA) and a proposal to ease the language requirements (the London Protocol) but later changed its mind, and that the main reason for the 2003 EPLA proposal having failed was that Germany had difficulties with the centralisation in Luxembourg."
This appears to underscore the enormous difficulties and uncertainies of current EU patent politics: Nowhere a big breaktrough seems to be near.
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