European Patent Office warns of "Global Patent Warming"

The European Patent Office (EPO) is warning of "Global Patent Warming" in light of the growing number of patent applications it is receiving. At the AIPPI (Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle) Congress that closed today in Boston, EPO head Alison Brimelow said that the increasing number of patent applications is currently the biggest problem that patent offices face and is slowing down the issue of patents.

Jon Dudas, head of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) also announced that industrial nations in the World Organization of Intellectual Property (WIPO) would soon approve a harmonisation package for the issue of patents. Takashi Suzuki, the new director of Japan's Patent Office, said that a pilot initiative is being launched to include public input in the testing procedures for patents.

An EPO spokesperson told heise online that the increasing number of patent applications does not mean that the world is coming up with more innovations. Rather, inventors and companies that already hold patents in one country are lining up at many other national patent offices to get patents for other markets. "If the decision takes time, the result is a period of legal uncertainty", a spokesperson explained.

In Boston, Brimelow called on patent offices to work together more closely in order to prevent redundant reviews. As the EPO put it, the growing number of applications does not necessarily increase quality. Patent applications are becoming more complex, and the range of claims applied for is widening. According to media reports, the EPO is therefore considering tailoring the fee to the number of claims filed for.

The EPO says it is not taking part in the pilot project described by Suzuki in Boston, to open up the review process for input from academics and industry in a sort of "peer review"; at present, the US and Japan are involved in such pilot projects. The EPO says that it could, however, consider such an approach if these pilot projects prove fruitful.

Recently, Japan launched an initiative for Community Patent Reviews. Like the US pilot project entitled Peer-to-Patent, which was extended for another year in mid July, the Japanese project includes public input with an eye to improving reviews of highly specialised patent applications. In its first annual review, Peer-to-Patent said it received 173 indications of "prior art" from 2000 reviewers for the 40 reviews conducted. Half of the indications were based on research literature, rather than on prior art found in current patents – a phenomenon that the EPO also commonly deals with.

Aside from patent issues, other issues discussed at the AIPPI in Boston included the liability of third parties, such as ISPs, for copyright violations and conflicts between public health and exclusive patent rights.

(Monika Ermert)

(trk)