Tag: patents

Stem cell research deemed "immoral" in the EU will nevertheless be funded by Brussels, possibly patented overseas and re-imported for sale, policymakers and experts said following the issuing of an opinion by an advocate-general of the European Court of Justice.

The Belgian EU Presidency will put a non-paper on the table at today's informal Competitiveness Council aimed at breaking the deadlock over proposals for a single EU-wide patent system, which has been blocked for over a decade over language issues.

Calls for patent-free green technologies on the one hand and for trade barriers on the other highlight the deep rift between developing and industrial countries, write Thomas Dapp and Eric Heymann of Deutsche Bank Research.

The days of the $1 billion blockbuster drug are over, according to a senior industry researcher. Big pharma is now investing in finding multiple uses for medicines developed to treat rare diseases, but is pushing the EU for regulatory changes to make research worthwhile.

Despite the absence of concrete legislative initiatives on issues such as the Community patent, businesses have praised the Commission's new strategy to better protect patents and trademarks – an area particularly crucial for smaller companies.

The EU must continue its drive to improve conditions for enterprises and promote sustainable production, ministers in charge of competitiveness said after their Council meeting in Brussels on 22 November.

To unlock Europe's innovation potential, the EU should adhere to the European Patent Convention rather than pursue the creation of a community patent on which unanimous consent is impossible, argues ProTon Europe, an organisation specialised in knowledge transfer, in an interview with EurActiv.

According to a new report, Germans file the most patents in Europe and the country is also the EU leader in the output of patent applications relative to research and development spending.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) the growth rate for patent applications from Japan, Republic of Korea and China remains exceptional.

A Commission report concludes that there are no objective grounds for restrictions on traditional patent protection for inventions relating to sequences of human genes. However, other issues relating to ethics, to research and to economics have been raised. 

The EU's draft regulation on paediatrics has come under attack from the generics industry. It claims patent extensions for children's medicines should only be granted to low-selling products which are unlikely to generate quick profits.