MEPs to take a calm look at the future of the European single patent after the storm over the Council's unilateral moves to change agreed text.

Patently problematic

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/16043024/n001-120709-001-en_mf.srt

Everyone loves an inventor.  In Europe we have no small share of them,

pushing the boundaries of knowledge  in pure and applied sciences.

as technologist Josef Bille did during  the recent European Inventor Awards

for his ground-breaking technology  in laser eye surgery.

But for decades they've waited for a single  Europe-wide patent to protect their work,

plodding expensively through every  Member State to register an idea.

Now, it's back to the drawing board after  a landmark deal last month fell through.

After 30 years we've got to this point.  I think it's a sorry state of affairs.

A unitary patent system is something  we really need at this moment in time,

in terms of economic growth, building  our way out of the situation we are in.

This week MEPs are working through  the consequences of the Council's decision

to extract several articles,  without consultation,

from a text painstakingly agreed earlier.

A patent is there  to protect the patent holder.

namely the definition of what is  worth protecting and what is not,

I think the Council is not thinking right.

It still has the old mentality  that they are the bosses.

Translation and administrative costs  mean Europeans can face registration fees

compared to the 2,000 inventors pay  in the US, blunting their competitive edge.

We have many partners  in the United States, Europe and also Asia.

So, it is increasingly important  to have patents

so that we can transform innovation  into commercial value.

Many points have been agreed:  co-hosting the new European Patent Court

in Munich, Paris and London for example,

that Spain and Italy won't be part of it.

But there are still fine details  to work through

and inventors are hoping  it won't take too long.