A training centre for European patent judges opened in Budapest on Thursday. The centre will coordinate the training of prospective judges of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and it will be located in the House of Hungarians, in the Castle District of Budapest.
In his ceremonial speech delivered at the opening ceremony, Minister of Public Administration and Justice Tibor Navracsics called the launch of the new education centre in Europe “a milestone”. He reminded that the EU patent creation process has been going on for decades, but received a major boost during the Hungarian EU Presidency in 2011.
He highlighted among the results obtained so far the agreement signed by 25 EU Member States to see the establishment of the UPC, which judicial body will consist of a highly qualified faculty guarding the European patent system. As he explained, the Human Resources Working Group under Hungarian operation is coordinating the development of a mechanism for the selection of judges assigned.
Zoltan Cséfalvay, State Secretary for Parliamentary and Strategic Affairs of the Ministry for National Economy spoke on the fact that the new single European patent system is a major contributor to European economy, global competitiveness and innovation.
As he said, it is an extraordinary success of the Hungarian economic diplomacy that the 25 member states of the Competitiveness Council (with the exception of Spain and Italy) joined the enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the UPC in 2011, during Hungarian presidency. A single European patent is particularly important because it reduces the costs of patenting, which is 36,000 euros on average in the EU.
He noted that the same expense in America is 3,000 euros and 600 euros in China, all of which means a huge competitive disadvantage for Europe. With the single European system, this toll is getting reduced to 6,500 EUR and after a transitional period, to the fee of 5,000 euros. He emphasized that the unified patent and a patent litigation system will strengthen the single market of the EU and establish a connection between scientific research and venture.
Benoit Battistelli, President of the EPO stressed that the institution in Budapest is the first milestone in creating a common European patent court. According to his statement, a total of 60 to 65 vacancies will be announced, for which so far 1,300 applications did the EPO received; so the would-be judges will be chosen from the best candidates.
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On Thursday, a two-day conference started after the ceremony. At the conference organized by the HIPO and the EPO, discussions will be on the new patent litigation expected coming force in 2015 and tasks of Hungary undertaken in this regard, in addition to the tasks of the unified European patent application centre.
It will be the exclusive responsibility of the UPC to handle issues relating to infringement and validity of European patents. The reforming of the system takes place in two areas: firstly, the development of the UPC and on the other hand, the creation of a new single European patent.
(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)
