Contribution of Dr Konstantinos Karachalios European Patent Office Relations with International/Intergovernmental Organisations

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1 Contribution of Dr Konstantinos Karachalios European Patent Office Relations with International/Intergovernmental Organisations to Panel 5: International Cooperation/global markets and EU competitiveness: how to ensure win-win partnership through standards ETSI Workshop Standards & Interoperability in ICT ETPs Sophia-Antipolis October 2006

2 Business, globalisation, global markets exclusive private property knowledge free trade rules WTO R&D innovation fostering norm setting standards setting IP, Patents TRIPS fair competition interfering interfering supporting developing economic, sociological studies international cooperation, TA public good Society, politics, public debate

3 EPO's contribution to innovation and to quality standards setting To foster innovation is the raison d'être of any patent system By its central role within the PCT system, the EPO supports innovation not only in Europe, but worldwide Through its recognised high quality it promotes European legal and procedural standards worldwide

4 EPO as PCT authority EPO carries out currently around 47 % of International Search Reports and 56 % of International Preliminary Examination Reports (as of July 2006). There is a relative decrease compared to the past, due to self-imposed restrictions (ceiling) by EPO (backlog problem) and to the proliferation of new International Search and Examination Authorities. However, the rates may increase again since EPO abandoned the mentioned ceiling and it is not sure that the newcomers will be able to deal with the additional workload in the mid and long term.

5 Patent quality standards setting It is worldwide perceived as fact that the EPO provides high level PCT services, both in terms of timeliness and in terms of quality of the specific "products" (ISR, WOISA, IPER). A genuine European organisation serves thus as a reference for worldwide quality standards in the IPR field.

6 EPO's contribution to international co-operation operation Mandated by its founding diplomatic conference in 1973 to deliver technical assistance in the IP field to developing countries and to promote their technological progress Global player with bilateral and multilateral programmes, funded by its own and by EC budgets, in East Europe (all new EU entrants became first EPO members), Asia (CIS and Russia, China, ASEAN, Middle East), Africa (Arab and Sub-Saharan Saharan states, including South Africa), Central and Latin America More information: see

7 Impact of our TA programmes Although TRIPS and its worldwide expansion was, at least initially, a process driven by the US, most developing countries, including China, have adopted a more European patenting practice, including the first to file approach. Moreover, China, EAPO and Brazil use EPO own databases and thus methodology for their patent searches, Canada is in the loop. Thus, European investors find all over the world a patent system, the material terms of which are similar to the ones prevailing in Europe.

8 Our international cooperation partners The EPO works closely with its member states and co-operates operates with several international organisations, in particular with WIPO, and with other European and international bodies active in related fields (WHO, UNCTAD, etc.).

9 Links with the EC The European Commission has turned to the EPO to run many EC-financed programmes in the field of patents and industrial property, in particular several large scale projects in in China, in the ASEAN region (ECAP I + II), RIPPS (East Europe), CARDS (Balkan states), in Ukraine, in the CIS countries, etc. These programmes feature in the EU s trade and intellectual property negotiations with partners around the world.

10 Building a worldwide network Through its solid, undogmatic and practically oriented TA programmes, the EPO has established a worldwide network and relations based on trust and mutual respect. This enables us to enrich our patents databases with documentation from all important countries and regions and proves very helpful also when we need reliable information, data (statistics, legal state, etc.) and realistic background information (for case studies, etc.).

11 The Trilateral co-operation operation Another very important aspect is the Trilateral Cooperation between USPTO, EPO and JPO, which started in More than 85% of all patent applications filed worldwide, including PCT applications, are processed by the Trilateral Offices. Through harmonisation and development of industrial property administration and protection of industrial property rights, the Trilateral Offices strive to contribute to an increasingly efficient worldwide patent system in the 21st century. More information: see

12 See EPO's contribution to the public debate: IP Scenarios for the Future This large scale project started 2 years ago and will be accomplished in April We have identified four major forces driving the system and which combined or alone may alter drastically the current worldwide IP landscape. The general contexts, for which we have constructed simulation wind channels, are related to society, technology, geopolitics and to business interests. The project is already now considered to deliver a major contribution to organising the international public debate around IP issues.

13 Dialogue with SDOs Having realised that patents and standards may follow conflicting trajectories, we have recently invited representatives of selected SDOs to Munich to find out in an open discussion, what can be done to improve the situation. Although quite tense at the beginning, the event took eventually a positive turn and will have surely several follow-ups and practical consequences. A side effect was that through our trilateral contacts we established a promising link between the USPTO and ANSI!

14 EPO-supported studies In co-operation operation with the OECD it establishes annually the compendium of patent statistics The (still unpublished) edition for 2006 includes, besides general patenting and R&D trends (per country, institutions, technical field), data focused specifically on ICT, including institutional and foreign/domestic ownership of patents

15 Brand new OECD data on triadic patent families * Triadic patent families are defined at the OECD as a set of patents taken at the EPO, JPO and USPTO that share one or more priorities. In terms of statistical analysis, they improve the international comparability of patent-based indicators, as only patents applied for in the same set of countries are included in the family :: home advantage and influence of geographical location are therefore eliminated. Patents included in such a family are typically of higher value: patentees only take on the additional costs and delays of extending protection to other countries if they deem it worthwhile. Therefore, they are thought to better reflect inventive activity, than usual patent filing statistics. *Soon under :

16 Growth rates in patenting ICT in Europe China India Korea Singapore Czech Republic Chinese Taipei Brazil Hungary Denmark New Zealand Ireland Spain Canada Norway Israel Netherlands Australia Finland Austria South Africa Switzerland Germany France European Union Russian Federation World total Italy Japan Belgium United Kingdom United States Sweden Source: OECD (not published yet) Growth in ICTrelated patent applications to the EPO, : Europe increasingly targeted by emerging economies, but absolute numbers still very low. China and India applied for 360 and 97 EPO ICT patents, respectively, in 2003, up from less than five in %

17 Country files The Principle Directorate for European and International Relations establishes files for countries and regions including a variety of data, a part of which may be made available to our cooperation partners (also SDOs) on demand. An example follows.

18 Example of information from a In 2006, SIPO received more patent Applications than the EPO country file: CHINA

19 Country statistics CHINA balanced domestic-foreign Applications received by SIPO Annual growth rate: 28,3% China R&D Expenditure DIRD: 2003: 1,31% 2004: 1,44% Patent Documentation No. Patent docs. Private: 70,1% Public: 29,9% Annual growth rate: 26% Exchange of technology with EU-25 (2005) Billions of FDI Inflows Millions of $ , ,3 China exports to EU / imports from EU Details

20 China: staff numbers and applications from EU Staff of the Patent Office: Year (forecast) Staff (Total) Examiners Top ten EU countries in SIPO applications Total DE NL FR CH UK IT SE FI DK ES

21 CHINA Statistics Due to relatively poor quality, granting rate for domestic applications is still low. However, trends show that quality, and thus possibly "exportable" applications, are rising rapidly. Foreign: 65% Patents granted Domestic: 35%

22 CHINA Statistics Share of countries in total SIPO patent applications in % 8% 16% 24% EU Japan United States China Other countries 14%

23 Growth rate in European patent applications for China, Japan, Europe (EPO member states) and the United States % China Japan United States of America Europe

24 Comments on rise of application numbers from China Even if the rate of Chinese EPOpatent applications rose very fast, the absolute numbers compared to the global economic players still remain quite low. Only 538 European or EURO-PCT applications were filed or entered the regional phase in 2005.

25 END OF SLIDES TO BE PUBLISHED On request available background information on Statistical data EPO's international cooperation programmes with developing countries and with Trilateral partners (USPTO, JPO) Examples, data and statistics from country files Contact: