Greek Presidency puts forward second compromise on Community patent

February 28, 2003

Brussels, Feb 2003

The Greek presidency is ready to adopt a second compromise following new developments on the Community patent law, Dimitris Deniozos, the Greek General Secretary for research and development, has told CORDIS News.

Related item: Community patent - Presidency proposal for Common Political Approach

A second compromise was agreed upon at a meeting of the committee of Member States' permanent representatives to the EU (COREPER) on 26 February, during which, additional suggestions were made by the German delegation regarding the Greek compromise.

The German delegation's proposal was found to be complimentary to the Greek presidency's compromise and was widely backed by other Member States, said Mr Deniozos.

The German proposal agreed with the main premise of the Greece's initial framework, which called for the establishment of a central judicial system in Luxembourg. Opinions, however, had diverged regarding the provision of mobile judges ruling in actions within Member States.

The German delegation suggested that the idea of mobile judges should be part of a transitional period that would allow for the eventual establishment of specialised courts in Member States to rule in patent actions.

Mr Deniozos told CORDIS News that the Greek Presidency has agreed to incorporate the German proposal into a second document, which will be ready for discussion at the Competitiveness Council on 3 March. If agreed upon by the Council, it is hoped that such outposts of the central system can be put in place by 2010.

There are now two possible scenarios for a political agreement on the Community patent. Either an agreement will be reached during the Competitiveness Council, or the Council may call on COREPER to further develop the guidelines set out in the compromise. If an agreement cannot be reached on 3 March, Mr Deniozos expects it to be achieved on either 12 or 29 May.

CORDIS RTD-NEWS / © European Communities

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