Europa se blinda: Tribunal Unificado de Patentes demoró 30 años en surgir
“After 30 years of discussions on a European patent, we reached an agreement on the last outstanding issue, the seat of the Unified Patent Court” , EU President Herman Van Rompuy said.
Con el acuerdo para la creación de un Tribunal Europeo de Patentes se pretende la consecución de dos fines. Por un lado, la reducción de costes de las patentes actuales en hasta un 80%, y por otro, aumentar la seguridad jurídica y reducir los costes de los litigios. Los resultados no surtirán efecto en España, al haberse autoexcluido de la firma del acuerdo, junto con Bulgaria y Polonia.
Firmado el Acuerdo para la creación del Tribunal Unificado de Patentes
A pesar de que dicha propuesta fue rechazada, el debate para la consecución de una patente única avanzaba, y en 2010 la Comisión Europea adoptó una propuesta de Reglamento lingüístico relativo a las disposiciones sobre traducción aplicables a la patente de la Unión Europea. Pero es en 2011 cuando el reto de la patente única comienza a cristalizar, pues es adoptada una Decisión del Consejo que autoriza una cooperación reforzada en el ámbito de la creación de una patente de protección unitaria, Decisión a la que España e Italia se opusieron al considerar el régimen lingüístico discriminatorio con los idiomas español e italiano.
Volviendo al marco legal actual, con el acuerdo para la creación de un Tribunal Europeo de Patentes se pretende la consecución de dos fines. Por un lado, la reducción de costes de las patentes actuales en hasta un 80%, y por otro, aumentar la seguridad jurídica y reducir los costes de los litigios. Los resultados no surtirán efecto en España, al haberse autoexcluido de la firma del acuerdo, junto con Bulgaria y Polonia.
En cuanto a su entrada en vigor, se ha establecido que tendrá lugar el 1 de enero de 2014, o una vez que 13 países firmantes lo hayan ratificado, siempre que uno de esos 13 países sea Alemania, Francia o Reino Unido.
Para mayor información sobre esta noticia, os invitamos a leer la entrada escrita por Manuel Desantes en el siguiente enlace.
Escrito por Rocío Sirvent
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Explained - A Unitary Patent System for Europe
19.02.2013,
- See more at: http://eu2013.ie/news/news-items/20130219upcfeature/#sthash.alNL25j5.dpuf.
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement will be signed by participating member states on 19 February 2013. This is one of the final major steps towards the establishment of a unitary patent system for Europe.
The Agreement is part of a package which also includes two EU Regulations, on unitary patent protection and associated translation arrangements (adopted in December 2012), which all together provide the legal basis for the future European Unitary Patent system. Such a system has been under discussion at European level since the 1970s.
Why has it taken until now?
It has taken so long to arrive at this point because of the complexity of establishing a complete and dedicated litigation system with jurisdiction for so many countries with different legal systems and languages. The fact that we have done so now is a considerable and historic achievement for the EU.
Current System
There is an existing European patent but it is not a unitary title. It is a bundle of national patents with no single jurisdiction for disputes. Any proceedings in relation to "bundled" European patents may be subject to diverse national laws and procedures. Consequently, claimants and defendants bear the risk of multiple litigation actions in a number of countries on the same patent issue. This can be a costly and lengthy process.
Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court
The unitary patent is a single patent which does not require validation or translation in other participating member states. Neither does it need to be administered in each and every state – there is a single jurisdiction.
Advantages
The Unitary Patent system will make obtaining a European Patent less complex and cheaper while ensuring legal certainty throughout the entire single jurisdiction. This is why the patent system was singled out as one of the top priorities in the EU’s “Single Market Act” in April 2011.
This more affordable Europe-wide patent protection will encourage EU businesses to increase their innovation activity and is particularly good news for SMEs who have limited resources. It will also make Europe a more attractive place for investors.
These advantages combine to boost competitiveness and enhance the Single Market.
- See more at: http://eu2013.ie/news/news-items/20130219upcfeature/#sthash.alNL25j5.dpuf.
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EU Chiefs Reach Agreement on Patent System, Van Rompuy Says
European Union leaders cleared the final hurdle to an agreement on a common patent system, paving the way for improved and cheaper enforcement of intellectual-property rights.
“After 30 years of discussions on a European patent, we reached an agreement on the last outstanding issue, the seat of the Unified Patent Court,” EU President Herman Van Rompuy said June 29 in Brussels after a two-day summit of European leaders.
The U.K., France and Germany each had lobbied to be the host of the seat of the court. The final compromise splits the court among the three nations.
The seat of the court’s central division, along with the office of the court’s president, would be located in Paris, while other departments dealing in more specialized work will be based in London and Munich. The first president of the court should come from France, the leaders said.
“The stalemate has been broken and that is a good thing,” said Geert Glas, head of the intellectual-property practice at law firm Allen & Overy LLP. “With a central seat in Paris, the unitary court has a good chance to combine the best practices of the common-law -- U.K. -- and civil-law -- Germany -- traditions.”
Creating a lower-cost European patent is one of several reforms that could aid innovation and economic growth, EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said on May 16. Under the current system, companies can pay as much as 18,000 euros ($22,600) for a patent valid in only 13 countries, including 10,000 euros for translation, according to the European Commission.
The number of patents filed in the EU lags far behind other parts of the world, Barnier said. Some 135,000 patents were filed with the European Patents Office in 2009, compared with 459,000 in the U.S., 348,000 in Japan and 315,000 in China.
The EU said that the common system “will bring down patent litigation costs for businesses significantly.” The European Commission has calculated that, with the single court, litigation expenses incurred by European companies can be reduced by about 289 million euros a year, it said.
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Patentes en genómica y acuicultura
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Biorigin y el Proyecto Nemo: 4 años de trabajo en secreto
Durante los últimos cuatro años, MacroGard, líder en Biorigin de productos de ?-glucano, ha sido objeto de un proyecto europeo conocido como NEMO … el European Marie Curie ITN Project.
Los investigadores del proyecto NEMO han estado investigando las capacidades de beta-1, 3/1 ,6-glucan de MacroGard para equilibrar el sistema inmune y su aplicación en la acuicultura.
A medida que el proyecto se acerca a su fin, tiene importantes repercusiones y significados para la industria de la acuicultura y para la el campo del BIORIGEN y las patentes.
NEMO, cuyo título completo es ‘Training network on protective immune modulation in warm water fish by feeding glucans’ … busca la protección de la modulación inmune en peces mediante alimentación con glucanos … Por ejemplo, para el éxito del cultivo del lenguado Paralichthys adspersus es importante optimizar el crecimiento y la supervivencia en los primeros estadios de desarrollo larval. Diversos autores señalan que la aplicación de B-glucanos y también manano-oligosacáridos (?G MOS) en el agua de cultivo, debería mejorar la salud de las larvas, disminuyendo los efectos del estrés fisiológico y el daño físico de los individuos, causado por las actividades propias de la acuicultura. Los resultados indican que se puede promover la manifestación de monocitos (células precursoras de macrófagos) asociados al sistema inmune no específico de los peces.
NEMO es un proyecto a 4 años (2008-2012) para investigar diversos aspectos de la actividad ?-glucano en el pescado. A través de los socios, 16 investigadores fueron empleados en las investigaciones pioneras.
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Biorigin and The Nemo Project: 4 Years on
For the last four years, Biorigin’s leading ?-glucan product MacroGard has been the subject of a European Marie Curie ITN project known as NEMO. Researchers in the NEMO project have been investigating the capabilities of beta-1,3/1,6-glucan, MacroGard to balance the immune system and its application in aquaculture. As the project draws to a close, what has this project meant for Biorigin and the aquaculture industry?
NEMO, whose full title was ‘Training network on protective immune modulation in warm water fish by feeding glucans’, was a 4 year project (2008-2012) to investigate various aspects of ?-glucan activity in fish. Across the partners, 16 researchers were employed. Table 1 summarises the partners and researchers of the NEMO project. Read more…Biorigin y el Proyecto Nemo: 4 años de trabajo en secreto
