Deense minister noemt overeenkomst EU-octrooi historisch (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Deens voorzitterschap Europese Unie 1e helft 2012 i, gepubliceerd op vrijdag 29 juni 2012.

Today the European Heads of Governments agreed on the location of the Unified Patent Court. This ends more than 30 years of negotiations on the European Patent Reform. In the future patent applications should only be filled once to be applicable in all the 25 EU member states who are participants in the enhanced co-operation. This will make it both easier and cheaper for European businesses to protect their patents in Europe.

The adoption of the European patent reform is a major step forward in relation to strengthening growth and competitiveness in Europe and since 1 January 2012 the Danish Presidency has worked intensively trying to find a solution that would be accepted by all participating member states. In the final part of the negotiations it all came down to one outstanding issue, namely the location of the Central Division of the Court of First Instance.

During the meeting in the European Council on 28 and 29 June 2012 it was agreed to place the central division in Paris and at the same time create specialised sections in London and Munich. With that more than 30 years of negotiations came to an end.

Danish Minister for Business and Growth, Ole Sohn:

”The European Patent Reform has been our primary priority in the last six months and today’s agreement is perhaps the larges accomplishment of the Danish Presidency. I am very satisfied that we have succeeded in breaking the ice after more than 30 years of negotiations.”

With today’s agreement the final part of the European Patent Reform is now in place. This will unleash large economical gains and remove administrative burdens for businesses all over Europe. The Commission has estimated that the prices for protecting a patent in all 25 participating countries will decrease by more than 90 percent as a consequence of the reform.”

As the situation is today the price of protecting patents in the EU is more than 10 times the price of protecting patents in the US - and the gap is even bigger compared to China. The European Patent Reform reduces this disparity significantly by making it both a lot easier and a lot cheaper to take out and enforce patents in the EU.”

It is my hope that the significant benefits provided through this reform will inspire even more businesses to use the IPR system both strategically and commercially to the benefit of growth and employment in Europe.”