On 27 January 2014, Greece, on behalf of the European Union, delivered this opening statement at the 20th session of WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP). The EU’s priorities for WIPO’s patent committee include quality of patents (including opposition systems), work sharing and confidentiality of communication between client and their patent advisors.
With respect to limitations and exceptions to patent rights, the EU said,
we emphasize the utmost importance of striking an appropriate balance between work on exceptions and limitations to patent rights and on corresponding legal standards used to determine whether an invention is patentable, as these two topics are closely interlinked.
With respect to patents and health, the EU said,
any possible future initiative of the Committee in this area should be carefully considered in light of the great incentive the patent system can provide to innovation in order to address the evolving global disease burden, and other health challenges.
STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE LAW OF PATENTS20th session
Geneva, January 27 – 31, 2014Statement by the European Union and its Member States
General statement
Mr. Chairman,
1. The European Union and its Member States, would like to congratulate you on your election as Chair of this Committe and express our wish that under your stewardship the 20th session of this Committee will reach a well-balanced program for its future work. In this regard, we associate ourselves with the statement made by Group B & CEBS. We remain committed to the work of this Committee and look forward to a constructive session. We would also like to thank the WIPO Secretariat for its extensive work in preparing for this meeting.
2. The upcoming session of the SCP will continue discussions on significant issues such as quality of patents including opposition systems, exceptions and limitations to patent rights, patents and health, confidentiality of communication between client and their patent advisors and transfer of technology addressing important and complex questions of the international patent system. All these discussions with the hope of getting a more efficient and accessible patent system as a whole.
3. In particular, we attach considerable importance to advancing work on the quality of patents along the lines proposed by delegations from Canada, the UK, Denmark, the US, and Spain. We are also committed to continuing work on issues of opposition systems and confidentiality of communication between clients and their patent advisors, which are of benefit to users of the patent system.
4. We also highlight our great interest in the topics of work-sharing, which has the potential to enhance international cooperation, and bring a more efficient, effective, and higher quality patent system to all, which presents problems only solvable through an international approach.
5. We would also like to express our readiness to continue discussions on exceptions and limitations to patent rights. In this context, however, we emphasize the utmost importance of striking an appropriate balance between work on exceptions and limitations to patent rights and on corresponding legal standards used to determine whether an invention is patentable, as these two topics are closely interlinked.
6. Given the importance of the issue of patents and health for tackling public health problems in developing and least developed countries, we fully understand the interest of these countries to include this topic in the future work of this Committee. However, any possible future initiative of the Committee in this area should be carefully considered in light of the great incentive the patent system can provide to innovation in order to address the evolving global disease burden, and other health challenges.
7. Similarly, possible further activities of this Committee in relation to the transfer of technology should be balanced, and objective, and considered in light of the great many examples of the benefits of the patent system to technology transfer, and the relatively fewer examples of the patent system as an impediment.
8. We also hope that our pursuit of a balanced work program will lead us to working towards discussions on the international harmonization of substantive patent law in the long term, to which we are strongly committed.
9. In closing, we would like to say that the European Union and its Member States reiterate their full commitment to cooperate and participate actively and constructively in discussions of this Committee.
Thank you.