International speakers assemble to discuss the European Patent System

[Jonas Maebe <jonas.maebe@ugent.be>]

PRESS RELEASE -- [ Europe / Economy / Innovation ]

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International speakers assemble to discuss the European Patent System
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Brussels, 4 May 2007 -- Over thirty renowned international speakers 
assemble on 15 and 16 May in Brussels' Metropole Hotel to discuss the 
future of the European Patent System. Among the topics being discussed 
are the recently published plans of the EU Commission for a new European 
patent system, and recent important decisions in the US Supreme Court, 
and new data and research from the USA about the impact of the patent 
system on the high-tech sector.

FFII President Pieter Hintjens, who launched the EUPACO forum, explains: 
"everyone agrees that patents can have a big economic impact. Everyone 
agrees that getting the patent system 'right' is essential to Europe's 
growth and prosperity. So we're very happy to see so many important 
experts in the patent system stepping forwards to take part in this forum."

Journalists, and staff of the European institutions, are invited to 
attend the conference for free.

Joff Wild, editor of IAM Magazine, usually a critic of the FFII's 
policies, sums up his view of the EUPACO-2 event:

"When you are face-to-face and talking it is much harder to maintain 
entrenched positions and to ignore what other people are saying. It is 
hugely encouraging to see that representatives from industry, the FFII, 
the EPO and national patent offices, and the Commission will be sharing 
platforms at this event. The FFII deserves to be congratulated for this 
initiative which, hopefully, will get the support it deserves."

The conference will take place on 15 and 16 May 2007, at the Metropole 
Hotel in Brussels. An online registration form and more information can 
be found at http://www.eupaco.org/


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Comments from key participants
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Dr Brian Kahin, University of Michigan, who is on the EUPACO Programme 
Committee, says:

"To advance, patent policy must move beyond ideological debates and 
political maneuvering. In line with the ideals and expectations of 
democratic governance, it must be institutionalized in a form that fits 
within the larger policy framework of promoting knowledge, innovation, 
and economic growth across Europe – and around the world. If Europe 
succeeds in this enterprise, it can provide legimate international 
leadership based on best practice – not just self-interest and economic 
clout. This requires policy development that is evidence-based, 
sensitive to the range of technological and business conditions, and 
oriented to produce optimal results.

"EUPACO is a forum for exploring and debating these issues. It brings 
the diverse stakeholder and disciplinary perspectives needed to test new 
ideas and thinking about the future of the patent system – and an 
opportunity for European leadership on issues that are very heart of the 
knowledge economy."


Prof. John Duffy, George Washington University, also speaking at 
EUPACO-2, will be comparing the proposed single European patent courts 
with a similar court system already in place in the US:

"I'm interested in the construction of well-designed public institutions 
for governing the patent system. A quarter century ago, the United 
States undertook an important experiment by restructuring the country's 
judicial process for adjudicating patent disputes: A significant portion 
of judicial decision-making for patent cases was centralized in a single 
specialized court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal 
Circuit. The experiment with this high degree of centralization has not 
been an unqualified success.

"At the EUPACO-2 conference, I plan to present a paper, co-authored with 
Professor Craig Nard, that details the dangers of excessive 
centralization and need to seek not complete, but rather an optimal 
degree of centralization and uniformity. My co-author and I hope that, 
as Europe moves toward greater centralization of its public institutions 
governing the patent system, it can learn from the United States' 
experiment with a highly centralized patent court."


David Martin, CEO of M-CAM, will be presenting data on the costs and 
benefits of patents:

"As the global fusion economy continues to evolve, assumptions 
underpinning industrial and intellectual property rights need to be 
assessed to test their adaptability for use today. In an era of 
unprecedented capability for multi-stakeholder competition or 
cooperation, EUPACO serves as an ideal forum to review the consequences 
for past policy and emerge a resilient model for future development and 
growth."


Ron Marchant, former Chief Executive, UK Patent Office, is a keynote 
speaker at EUPACO-2:

"It is 30 years since the EPO was founded. Things have come a long way 
since then and neither the context nor the objectives are the same as 
they were then. Within Europe the simplification of the system is both 
more important than ever and perhaps looking as unattainable as ever. 
But Europe is only part of the global economy; the wider world has also 
not stood still and thus further challenges for Europe are created. 
EUPACO will provide a major forum for a critical look at the issues, a 
platform for proposings ways forward, and a way of bringing together 
major players. Europe needs a better patent system, especially if it is 
to unlock the potential of its myriad SMEs. I am looking to this 
conference to find some of the answers."


Prof. Beth Noveck, Peer-to-Patent Project, New York Law School, will be 
addressing the issue of low-quality patents:

"EUPACO takes seriously the idea that patents are at the center of a 
global economy and that we need to improve the quality of patents and 
the opportunity for innovation. We need a more open patent system with 
greater accountability by patent offices to the scientific public and 
input by the scientific public to improve decision-making by patent 
offices. Hence I am coming to talk to the thought-leaders and innovators 
who want, not only to discuss, but take action to explore how we can 
improve our patent institutions and make them a driver for economic 
opportunity and scientific growth."


Amédee Turner, Queen's Counsel, Honorary Member of the European 
Parliament, is making the case for mandatory patent litigation insurance:

"I hope practical interest in insurance for patent litigation will be 
aroused, and that this should be seen in the light of greater fairness 
in the practical working of the patent system in Europe."


Prof. Lee Hollaar, University of Utah, is proposing a new type of 
patent-like protection that is fast, cheap, and narrow:

"I'm proposing a new, limited patent-like protection. It combines the 
disclosure and claiming requirements of patents, so that the current 
database of patented technology can be substantially expanded, with 
copyright's infringement defense of independent creation. Because 
protection comes into being only when a registered innovation is 
actually used in commerce, many of the problems with "patent trolls" are 
eliminated. And providing such an alternative would allow more 
substantial examination of regular patents through greatly increased 
application fees and more stringent requirements. The protection is 
particular suitable for software developers who have created new 
techniques. Without such protection, there is no way for an open-source 
software developer to keep those who don't want to share with the 
community from using their new technique."


Francis Hagel, Intellectual Property Manager of CGGVeritas, will be 
looking at the quality issue:

"EUPACO is a welcome forum to clarify the issues the European patent 
system has to address, and to reflect on possible changes. The diversity 
of the speakers guarantees that the implications for all stakeholders 
will be analysed. Current developments in the US of major significance 
(patent reform bills, KSR vs. Teleflex decision of the Supreme Court) 
will no doubt be food for thought in our discussions. The quality of 
patents is a critical issue. As an industrial user of the system, and by 
"user" I mean both applicant/patentee and third party, I would like to 
share thoughts based on experience as to key ingredients of a 
user-friendly and properly balanced European patent system, and thus 
help in the assessment of any proposal for change."


Benoit Battistelli, French IP Commissioner and Director General, INPI 
will be speaking about how a future European patent system could be built:

"Two challenges are facing the European Patent System. One is patent 
quality: EPO achieved an excellent standard for granted patents – 
presently the highest in the world. How can quality be maintained with 
the increase of patent filings as a consequence of globalization 
(especially from developing countries such as China and India)? The 
other challenge is the implementation of a unified patent litigation 
system in Europe in order to complete the centralised granting procedure 
managed by EPO. Europe is part of a global world where all systems are 
interconnected: it is therefore necessary to confront the different 
views on an international level and to achieve balance for the benefit 
of all. I hope that EUPACO will enable us to reach a constructive 
exchange of views and to find new paths."


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Background information
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* Conference date: 15-16 May 2007
* Location: Metropole Hotel, Brussels
* Registration fee: 250.00 EUR excl. VAT, free for journalists and staff 
of the European institutions


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Links
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* Conference website
http://www.eupaco.org

* Conference programme
http://www.eupaco.org/eupaco2

* Flyer
http://www.eupaco.org/local--files/eupaco2/eupaco-2%20flyer.pdf

* Registration
http://www.eupaco.org/register

* FFII announces major conference on future of European patent system
http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/FFII_announces_major_conference_on_future_of_European_patent_system

* Permanent link to this press release
http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/International_speakers_assemble_to_discuss_the_European_Patent_System


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Contact information
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Benjamin Henrion
FFII Brussels
+32-2-414 84 03
bhenrion@ffii.org
(French/English)


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About the FFII
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The FFII is a not-for-profit association registered in twenty European 
countries, dedicated to the development of information goods for the 
public benefit, based on copyright, free competition, open standards. 
More than 850 members, 3,500 companies and 100,000 supporters have 
entrusted the FFII to act as their voice in public policy questions 
concerning exclusion rights (intellectual property) in data processing.