What’s stopping start-ups in the EU?
Are we making European start-ups abscond to the US?
European Patents Office logo
European Patents Office logo
Cheaper patents needed in Europe
Cheaper patents have been cited on The Next Web as being one of the reasons that European startup companies move to the US and Asia.
Tim Difford claims in his article that it can cost up to five times more to acquire a patent in Europe than it does in the US and three times more than it does in Japan.
This seems highly questionable when EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes is presenting a plan to boost the EU’s competitiveness and remove blocks to cross-border trade.
One of the added expenses with patents in the EU is the need for translation.
Language barriers to progress
“It can cost up to five times more to acquire a patent in Europe than it does in the US and three times more than it does in Japan.”
Tim Difford – The Next Web
An issue that is relevant to languages in patents is covered in a report on Intellectual Asset Management’s blog on 22 June on the attempts being made by Margot Frohlinger, Director of Knowledge Economy in the European Commission, to create a single EU patent and the obstacles being faced.
The fact that applications need to be submitted in English, French or German (with no translation into the national language required) seems to be a major cause of contention here.
A reason cited for this is resistance by private service providers whose main source of income is “rubber stamping translations”.
Are cheaper patents on the way?
To the uninitiated it seems like a no-brainer to create a pan-European patent to try to bring down costs and speed up applications, especially with patents being blamed by European Voice.com as one of the “biggest obstacles to innovation in Europe”.
It remains to be seen if the bureaucrats in Brussels really have the determination needed to overcome the objections of the member states that seem to be deliberately holding up the process.
European Patents Office spokesman Rainer Osterwalder claims that Alison Brimelow, the outgoing EPO president, expressed some scepticism about an imminent political breakthrough.
No sign of an early resolution on simplifying patent application in Europe
The message here seems to be that a breakthrough on a pan-European patent is not predicted for the imminent future.
With the state of the global economy, it seems inexplicable that there are those that seem to be working against their own interests in such a regrettable way.
It’s quite obvious that this “patent issue” has been a critical cause of delay in innovation development, and you really don’t need a PhD to figure it out.
“To the uninitiated it seems like a no-brainer to create a pan-European patent to try to bring down costs and speed up applications, especially with patents being blamed by European Voice.com as one of the “biggest obstacles to innovation in Europe”.”
With this current dilemma being experienced regarding patents, how aggressive is the EU in putting forth a policy that will push for a smoother and cost-effective patent acquisition?
here’s one initiative that looks promising:
http://en.octrooicentrum.nl/home/24-nieuws-2010/557-557-n-2010-05-31.html
“In order to overcome language barriers that inhibit a more innovative society, the partners are planning to create a rapid and efficient online translation service. The system will be tailored specifically to the needs of inventors looking for information on existing patents and other intellectual property (IP) related matters.”
This is a good start, but the question remains if this will prove to be an effective solution in boosting innovation in Europe. Will the appropriate policy makers in this field be up to the task?
Hey Rob, the new innovation policies are boosting innovation. I looked to see how they are doing this and found this:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28193790/A-Strategy-for-ICT-R-D-and-Innovation-in-Europe-Raising-the-Game
“DEVELOPMENT ICT provides essential infrastructures and tools for knowledge creation, sharing and diffusion. It boosts the innovation capacity of all sectors and contributes to more than 40% of overall productivity growth2. The worldwide ICT market has reached €2 000bn and is currently growing at 4% per year. Europe represents 34% of this; however, the value added of its ICT sector amounts to only 23% of the total3. The sector represents 4.5% of European GDP and even more if the value added of ICT in other sectors is also accounted for.”
What I am apprehensive of is: how are the new innovation-boosting policies helping Europe overcome the downturn?”
Gill asks how the new innovation-boosting policies helping Europe overcome downturn.
Here is a link to a document on ‘Strategy for ICT R&D and Innovation in Europe’
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2009:0116:FIN:EN:PDF
It says, ‘ICT provide vital tools to recover from the current economic slowdown, to build robust economies, bring the efficiency gains needed in our public sector and cut the rising costs related to e.g. ageing, energy and the environment.’
But the question remains if a rapid and efficient online translation service will prove to be an effective solution in boosting innovation in Europe, as pointed out by Robj.