Opening Speech of EPO President Benoît Battistelli
Inhoudsopgave:
I. Introduction
II. The EPO: Recent developments
A. Strategic orientations
B. Enhancing quality
C. Enhancing efficiency
III. The EPO and the Unitary Patent
IV. Conclusion
(...) However, owing to the lack of agreement among member states on the location of the central patent court, the signing ceremony for the unitary patent system, scheduled for December 2011 in Warsaw, was cancelled.
Being a French President of a European Organisation based in Münich and addressing a qualified audience in London, you will easily understand that I will stay silent on this issue.
But I would like to give a warning anyway: whatever will be the decision on the location of the Court, please take it quickly. A great deal of energy has been engaged to obtain the current result which is positive or at least acceptable for a lot of us. Of course, it is always possible to improve but the better is the enemy of the good.
Earlier this year, the European Parliament already postponed its First Reading and the vote on the creation of the new system to an "indefinite time" in the future. Substantive misgivings are still being voiced in some quarters about the European Patent Court and the litigation arrangements, which are a fundamental element of the proposed system.
In my opinion, it is a mistake to believe that a general agreement is now reached and we can afford endless discussion on the last remaining issues.
(...)
My personal conviction is that we must move forward to the completion of the European patent system, with a unitary patent and a centralised, specialised patent court.
This, in my view, is an economic imperative. With Europe's fragmented market in innovation and IP, we are at risk of losing out to the world's other superpowers. It is time that we set aside our differences. We must focus on our needs as Europeans, and re-shape the European patent system accordingly.
