EC patent - not patently obvious

According to research carried out by patent and attorney experts Marks & Clerk, the UK pharmaceutical sector has given a positive reaction to intellectual property protection rights across Europe.

The proposal for a European Community patent was finally agreed on 3 March by the EU's competitiveness council. However, Marks & Clerk say that there are still concerns about the negative effects of delay in decision making and the cost of translation.

The study found that 93% of pharmaceutical companies believe they should be able to protect innovation across Europe, while 89% thought that a single intellectual property system enforceable throughout Europe would help UK businesses to compete in Europe.

On the negative side, 86% felt they would benefit if fewer translations were required. However, with enlargement to 25 countries there will be an increase in official languages from 11 to 19. Currently, the compromised reached by the EU means that the claims have to be translated into all languages, while the patent specifications have to be in English, French or German.

More than half the companies asked said they felt the current costs of obtaining patents across Europe meant that UK businesses risked lagging behind their US counterparts.

Tim Andrews, partner at Marks & Clerk, commented: 'These statistics support the view that the lengthy delays in agreeing the Community patent have led to a compromise that is not going to provide all the benefits many hoped for. It is clear from this research that pharmaceutical companies feel European Community intellectual property rights are a positive development, so it is a shame that they have been let down by political wrangling. In particular the requirement to translate claims into all EU official languages will impose substantial costs, particularly when the number of official languages increases.'

Also, despite the enthusiasm of the pharmaceutical sector for pan-European IP protection, the research found a very low level of awareness of existing European rights. Nearly 2/3 of directors are not aware of the Community Trade Mark, which has been available since 1996, and 84% are not aware of the Community Design Right which came into effect earlier this year. Andrews continued: 'While companies in the sector like the idea of intellectual property protection across Europe, there is clearly a job to be done in educating them about the options available to protect their inventions, trade marks and designs.