The cost to European businesses of protecting their innovative ideas and inventions is set to drop significantly as the introduction of a new EU-wide patent draws nearer.
Towards the end of 2016, the much-anticipated unitary patent is expected to be up and running in at least 26 of the EU's 28 member states (Croatia and Spain have yet to sign up).
Earlier this month, the Parliament Magazine caught up with Benoît Battistelli, the man tasked with overseeing the implementation and management of "the biggest challenge" ever undertaken by the European Patent Office (EPO). Battistelli, who has been the EPO's President for five years, believes the unitary patent will have a strong economic impact.
"This is a major improvement that is about to be implemented; unitary patent protection will be a European patent granted by the EPO and will automatically protect you across 26 countries. To do this today you would have to validate your patent in each EU country while managing 26 different sets of formalities and patent stems."
Although there are a few technical processes that still need to have i's dotted and the t's crossed, such as the ratification and launch of a new unitary patent court, the all-essential validation of the 'legal basis' that underpins the EPO's right to grant the new patents (Battistelli's organisation is not an official EU agency) was recently signed o by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
"The good news as we end the year is that the ECJ has fully validated the legal basis of the unitary patent as being a European patent granted by the EPO. We have been given the task of granting the patent, then managing it once granted on behalf of the 26 countries."
Despite a number of heavily publicised and potentially damaging staff disputes that threatened to derail the 2016 implementation timeframe, Battistelli says that, "The EPO is now legally and technically ready."
Italy recently became the 26th and latest country to sign up. This is good news, he says; "It's important because Italy is a big European market and this increases the attractiveness of the unitary patent."
For something that seems in principle to be a bit of a no-brainer idea, Europe has had to wait more than half a century for a single all-encompassing patent scheme.
Smoothing out the complex legal and technical issues surrounding patent applications across so many different countries, coupled with sovereignty and language issues (Madrid persistently blocked the plans because Spanish wasn't included as one of the official working languages) is in itself a great achievement.
The decision by EU member states in 2012 to set the process free from its 'unanimity' handcuffs and into the enhanced cooperation procedure was a major help. Battistelli says the current focus on ratifying the unified patent court helps illustrate and underline the difficulty and complexity of the legal processes involved.
"We are not talking about an EU regulation here, but a treaty that creates the court and needs to be ratified by each national parliament. In Ireland, for example, ratification requires a referendum."
He adds that it's important to understand that the new court represents a step forward in the constitution of Europe. "For the first time member states are passing their judicial competences to a supranational court that will be competent for litigation between product parties."
So, Europe now has a unique and timely set-up that's managed to skirmish its way through the EU's constitutional minefield. But at the end of the day, is it going to make things better or cheaper for businesses and individuals?
Currently the cost of applying for and maintaining a European patent across the EU is around €159,000 over 20 years. Under the new plans, this will drop to around €35,500. "It's going to be more accessible, less costly and simpler, especially for Europe's small businesses, with cost reductions in the 70-80 per cent range."
So will these numbers yet tempt the Spanish and Croatian renegades to come on board? Battistelli smiles and says, "Croatia yes. Spain will take a little more time."