In the build up to Commissioner McCreevy's speech on patents next week in Strasbourg, Italian MEP Umberto Guidoni has criticised new plans to set up the European Patent Judiciary (EPJ) to remove judiciary competences from national courts in patent litigations.
"After the failure of the software patent directive, the EPO (European Patents Office) has come up with another proposal backed by McCreevy, and it's even more undemocratic and dangerous than the previous one" Guidoni said.
The GUE/NGL group, together with the PES and the Greens/EFA is against McCreevy's championing of new patent rules that will undermine democratic measures, increase legal costs and create additional financial burdens and other risks for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Group has tabled a resolution on the issue.
Last year the European Parliament threw out the Commission's and Council's software patent bill. McCreevy's latest patent strategy concerns the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA) and the establishment of a new court to supervise patent rules. The Commissioner's proposals would create a system beyond the control of the EU institutions thereby damaging judicial independence and exposing SMEs to higher risk.
"EPLA is about much more than software patents. Still, software patents are one of the key motivations behind it. The Parliament made it very clear last year that we largely disagree with the EPO's granting practice in certain areas. That's why we don't want a new court that would be controlled by basically the same people as the EPO."
McCreevy will address parliament next week; MEPs vote on the proposal in mid-October.
GUE/NGL Press
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