A report from the European Scrutiny Committee of the UK’s House of Commons published yesterday attacked the impact that a proposed European unified patent court would have on small and medium sized businesses, commenting that the supposed main beneficiaries would actually find themselves under financial strain because of a convoluted and protracted system.

Burdensome

A Council of Europe draft agreement on the court -- which has been vehemently opposed by national and European patent professions – has been under the committee’s microscope since last September. The committee’s overwhelming opinion is that the court would be even more burdensome than the existing UK system, as very few SMEs require a single patent covering 25 countries.
The MPs also found that cost savings would be minimal, while litigation expense would probably increase because of the complex processes involved.

London base

The committee implored the British government to take a strong stance reflecting these concerns during the final negotiations of the agreement, such as calling for the central division of the court to be in London.
Committee, Bill Cash MP, said: ‘Although the theory of a single EU-wide patent -- with a single court to administer it -- has long been thought desirable, the practice has long been elusive. These latest proposals appear, regrettably, to be a further example of this. They would increase costs for SMEs and hinder the enforcement of patents within the EU, particularly by giving additional jurisdiction to the Court of Justice of the EU and not allowing the invalidity of a patent to be a defence to infringement proceedings.  The negotiations have been rushed and effectively excluded the views of European patent professions.’