McCreevy prays for patent converts

EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy is planning to put forward an options paper on patent protection but has warned that member states will have to show flexibility for any progress to be made on the dossier.

McCreevy told journalists last week that he would be presenting a "communication to the Commission shortly on options".

But he stressed that it was up to the member states not the Comm-ission to move on patents. Referring to businesses which wanted a common EU patent system, McCreevy said: "There’s no point lobbying us here in Brussels. We’re converts."

McCreevy said that attempts to set up a common EU patenting system were "stuck in the mud". He high-lighted attempts to get member states to sign up to the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA), which would have provided a single court to decide on patent infringements. "There was no dancing in the streets," McCreevy said. France said no to signing up to the EPLA.

EU officials said that the options paper would probably be published in the second half of Germany’s presidency of the EU. EU governments have failed to agree on creating a single "community" patent with countries like Germany and Spain resisting plans to cut the number of languages in which patent application can be filed, fearing that their national patent offices would lose business. The German presidency is currently discussing with member states if there might be a chance of making progress on patents before its term of office ends in June.

EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy is planning to put forward an options paper on patent protection but has warned that member states will have to show flexibility for any progress to be made on the dossier.