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Further expansion of the European patent system- "Patents are the backbone of the knowledge economy in Europe"

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Brussels, 3 December 2004 -- The European Patent Office (EPO) expects a record number in patent applications this year: “177 500 European patent applications are the highest number ever recorded in the history of our Office”, explained EPO President Alain Pompidou at a press meeting today. For the first nine months of 2004, the EPO noted a
12 % increase over the previous year.

The geographical scope of protection of European patents has also increased: With Lithuania’s membership in the European Patent Organisation the number of contracting states to the European Patent Convention has grown to 30 in December. Poland and Iceland had already joined in April and November respectively. Furthermore, an agreement between the Organisation and Bosnia and Herzegovina entered into force, enabling the extension of European patent applications and patents to this country although it is not a member state. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the sixth extension state, bringing the total of European countries for which European patents can be filed to 36. They cover a market of more than 550 million inhabitants.

The President of the EPO saw this development as a clear indication of the growing importance of the patent system for the European economy: “Europe is an attractive market for inventors and investors. The patent system manages the network flow from knowledge to innovation and to the creation of economic value. Patents play a key role in the transformation process to a knowledge-based economy in Europe.” Mr Pompidou also underlined the supporting role of patents for the economy. Patents provide an important incentive for entrepreneurial decisions on investment in research and development (R&D): “No-one would allocate resources in new technologies without the perspective of securing return on investment. If we want to achieve the objective of spending 3% of the GDP on research in the EU states, we need a strong patent system to encourage and support this investment. Patents create legal certainty for anyone involved in the innovation process.” The absence of an efficient patent system would increase the risk of industry migration to competing regions, and of enhancing Europe’s technological dependence from these regions: “We cannot afford a skills and knowledge drain which would inevitably result in a loss of competitiveness”, he said.

Turning to the question of how the EPO addresses patenting new technologies President Pompidou explained that the Office was well aware of the controversies concerning areas such as biotechnology and computer-implemented inventions, and is not ignoring public concerns: “Due to its mandate the Office is at the forefront of technology and often has to consider patent issues before the consultation process in public has even started. R&D activities precede such processes many years sometimes. In its practice the EPO is bound by the provisions of the European Patent Convention and by the case law handed down by its independent Boards of Appeal.”

With regard to the implementation debate on the EU Directive for the Protection of Biotechnological Inventions in the German Parliament today Mr Pompidou said that the patent system is generally open to new technologies, but also has to reflect processes in society: “The EPO is in favour of clear directives regulating the patenting practice in specific areas. We have been applying the bio patent directive since 1999. Sometimes these processes take longer”.

For further information please contact:
European Patent Office
Communication Department
Rainer Osterwalder
Press Officer
80298 Munich

Phone: +4989/2399-5012
Fax: +4989/2399-2850
e-mail: press@epo.org