Italian MEP Cappato has questioned the Council and the Commission on how they assess high quality patents. Their answers are pretty vague.
Here is the first question to the Commission:
Parliamentary questions
15 January 2008
E-6650/07
WRITTEN QUESTION by Marco Cappato (ALDE) to the CommissionSubject: Patent quality debate
The ‘Putting knowledge into practice’ report (INI/2006/2274) adopted by Parliament in May 2007 ‘calls on the Commission and the Member States to propose, in the context of the new Community patent, a procedure for eliminating trivial patents and sleeping patents’.
1. Is the Commission aware of any criteria and instruments to measure patent quality beyond the general requirements regarding ‘inventive step’ and ‘novelty’?
2. What steps is the Commission attempting to take in order satisfy the request for patent quality promotion?
Here is the answer from the Commission (available in proprietary Microsoft Word format):
E-6650/07EN
Answer given by Mr McCreevy
on behalf of the Commission
(18.2.2008)The Commission believes that high quality patent rights that fulfil the legal requirements are an essential element of a well-functioning patent system. The notion of patent quality can be considered from a number of different perspectives covering individual granted patent rights and also
the objective of the system as a whole to encourage innovation. This makes quality difficult to measure. However, in the replies to the 2006 Commission's consultation on future patent policy in Europe, respondents stressed the importance of rigorous examination, prior art search and strict application of patentability criteria to ensure high quality patents[1].The Commission addressed patent quality in the Communication "Enhancing the patent system in Europe"[2] and will further develop the issue in the forthcoming Communication on industrial property rights strategy which is expected in 2008.
[1] Further information on the Commission's patent consultation can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/patent/consultation_en.htm
[2] COM(2007)165 final
Similar question to the Council:
Parliamentary questions
15 January 2008
E-6649/07
WRITTEN QUESTION by Marco Cappato (ALDE) to the CouncilSubject: Patent quality debate
The ‘Putting knowledge into practice’ report (INI/2006/2274) adopted by Parliament in May 2007 ‘calls on the Commission and the Member States to propose, in the context of the new Community patent, a procedure for eliminating trivial patents and sleeping patents’. And a resolution on European future patent policy of 12 October 2006 (P6_TA(2006)0416) sets a clear agenda for upcoming talks about a patent judiciary: ‘that the proposed text [for a European Patent Court] needs significant improvements, which address concerns about democratic control, judicial independence and litigation costs,’ and demands ‘that all legislative proposals should be accompanied by an in-depth impact analysis related to patent quality, governance of the patent system, judicial independence and litigation costs.’
1. Is the Council aware of any criteria and instruments to measure patent quality beyond the general dogmatic requirements regarding inventive step and novelty?
2. What steps is the Council attempting to take in order to address the demands of Parliament in the current discussion on an EU‑EPLA and a Community patent?
Answer from the answer from the Council (available in proprietary Microsoft Word format):
E-6649/07
Reply
(18 February 2008)1. The Council fully shares the European Parliament's wish for a high-quality Community patent system. Work is still going on in this field within the Council's preparatory bodies, and the Council has not yet finalised its thinking as to what criteria and instruments would be appropriate for such quality measurement. In this context, the Council wishes to remind the Honourable Member of the Council's commitment to re-consult the European Parliament once a text concerning the Community patent has reached a sufficient degree of maturity within the Council.
2. The Council assures the Honourable Member that, in its discussions regarding the establishment of an EU patent system, it has always taken and will continue to take duly into account the views expressed by the European Parliament, as set out in particular in the 2006 resolution and the 2007 report referred to by the Honourable Member in his written question.
The National Patent Offices who are populating the Working Group on Patents of the Council have really few things to say about patent quality.