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I agree with the position of Spain and Italy that patents should be in two languages English and a second one by choice. It is true that it would be nice to reach a eu- wide patent system like in the United States, but we also have to acknowledge that the European Union is different than the United States. It is a Union of multi-language Nations. So every solution will be in different languages and it will take time to achieve them, but they will and have to come, because without them the European Union will be in gridlock and won’t be taken seriously on the world stage. This is true not only for the patent system but also regarding economical and financial matters. The only solution to that is a change from an economical union to a political one.
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The countries mainly opposing to English, French and German as the three official languages want the languages of their countries to be included as the official EU languages. Having their language included as one of the official languages has obvious advantages for companies in these countries as the companies in other countries would then have to bear the additional costs for looking up for patents in all of these languages before filing for one. The trilingual system in addition to this overhead for other companies also means that the patents are not available in all national languages, and are not legally binding in all the EPO’s member states. It seems that the second proposal of using English and a second language would improve coordination and patent market as all the data would be easily available in at least one language for all the applicants. But this has legal uncertainties as there are many languages in EU.
Looking into all these ground realities the compromise solution that has been proposed, of companies filing patents in their own languages and being reimbursed for translation into one of these three languages looks good on paper, but if the EU truly wants to integrate globally, the monolingual system of using only English seems a better option. The cost of translating into other languages seems binding till the time machine translation is optimized and thus translating into other languages should be put off until a suitable translation system is evolved.
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What concerns the language regime for EU patents, I’m quite more radical than for the other previous subjects where I was always in a trade-off between different things.
Here, in my opinion, we should publish patents only in English because it’s the most used language and therefore the most comprehensible one for each. I agree with Bruno van Pottelsberghe who says that this focus on languages is diverting attention. Everybody is free to translate the patent law is his own language after its publication, provided the English version remains the legal one.
Nevertheless, I’m not against the fact that everyone can enjoy patent law in his own language, but only if it will not be a loss of time and a loss of translation cost. A good way to do that is to use, as the text says, computer help like Google.
Show lessJust to avoid confusion: we are talking here of the language(s) in which patents should be filed and granted, not the patent law itself.
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In my opinion, EU patents should only be in English. Simplicity is important and a system where everyone can chose the languages he wants to use, does not seem easy.
First, I think that it is important to have a complete base with all patents in the same language. This allows people to find more quickly and easily the patents that there are looking for. In this regard, English is the most spoken language in the world. Moreover, it fits to the US system.
Secondly, people should not be required to display patents in other languages. The reason is that if everyone chooses his language, it is not possible to achieve a complete patent base in another language than English. Partial bases in numerous languages do not constitute a practical tool.
Most people are supposed to speak English and Google translation can be useful for those who don’t. For the moment, serious things have to be written in English and this concerns all sectors of activity.
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I think that the languages in which the European patents have to be translated must not be a big issue. Everyone should agree that english is the international language the most used between the worldwide communities and therefore it would be easier to translate the patents only in this language. I agree with Jean-Philippe that maybe some nations are proud of their culture and language and are upset if European patents are translated in some most knew languages as German, French and English and not in their ones.
In the other side, if it turns out that it’s mostly required to translate patents in every languages, I think a solution can easily be found, as it has been mentioned like for example the new technology of Google. Moreover, I agree that it might stimulate the patent industry. I think we should examine this possible consequence.
Anyway, I agree that we should focus on the main problem of the European patent system, and that it is important to open the European Patent market across the European nations, as Bruno van Pottelsberghe said.
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As for me, a big issue with patents in general is the slowness in their allowance. This is an administrative problem and it prevents a firm to quickly release its findings so that it slows down second innovation.
I think the best way, to have a minimum of red tape and to facilitate the information circulation about patents, is to fill the patent first in the native language. Then translation technologies could be used to translate it in English.
Translation machine should be improved to be really efficient on “native language -> English” translation. Considering that English is a language that is understood almost everywhere, it is interesting to have an english version of the patent file at least to export the information out of Europe.
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In my opinion, the proposition of the Belgian presidency wasn’t bad. A system using only English with reimbursements for the cost of translating is a quite good way to tackle with the issue at hand, as the alternative of “English and a second language at will” is as well. Indeed, the application in English will standardize and the other will allow the different countries to keep a track in their own tongue and to have an advantage in their respective countries. I personally think that the solution with the second language could be perhaps a little fairer.
But I am against the proposition of the EU Competitiveness Council. Why French and German ? It would surely give them an advantage, as mentioned in the article “EU looks to Rome, Madrid for patent deal”. But why in these two languages and not the others ? Regarding English, it is justified given that it is a little bit “the universal language”.
The thinking about the Google project could be promising as well. It would guarantee that everyone keep the right to file the applications in its own language and the goal is reached. But I can’t help myself to ask : is the technology enough reliable ?
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I believe Europe would be better off with one language system in the sense that everyone should need to file a patent in English. It would be easier to navigate and identify patents if everything is in one language instead of three different languages. It could complicate the application process for some inventors (when they’re not able to file the patent in their native language), but I can’t imagine this would be a significant problem. The benefit of protection would offset the costs of filing an application in English.
The next question is if everything should be available in several languages through translation. If this could be done at a low cost (through google for instance), this would be great. However, the most important thing in my opinion is to agree upon one language to be the “patent-language” on which litigations will be settled.
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As European Union is based on single market phenomena I believe that all member countries should have equal rights, meaning that I agree with an idea to publish EU patents in all 27 member states in their native languages. We are already used to have some of legal issues, laws and etc. translated in all member states languages so why it couldn’t be done with patent system as well? In such way it will help individuals to gather information and to learn more about patent issues across EU territory because as we are living in the age of globalization where the principle of 4 freedoms within EU allows to place business activities across single market territory the society should be informed about what happens in one or another countries internal market related to the issues of patent system. Though from another point of view, I think that EU patents should be translated at least into the most common languages within EU (english, german, french, italian and spanish) in case it is impossible to have them in 27 languages.
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In this article, the main point is about finding a translation agreement for European patents among European countries. For my part, I agree with professor Bruno van Pottelsberghe saying that these questions about the right language to use might make us forget the main purpose of patent.
As the professor said, it could be interesting for European countries to create a real market for technology to rival other competitors as USA. But, for that purpose, we should reform the European patent system in order to promote patent among all the European countries. Nevertheless, this may be difficult given the countries having a patent on their own represented in the European Patent Office.
About the right language to use, I think that it should not be a barrier for the countries. Perhaps, some countries might be proud of their language but this is a debate of big kids without deep arguments. Everyone knows that English is the first language used and understood worldwide, simply use it to make it easier.
Nevertheless, if someone needs to translate the English patent in his native language, Google is a right tools to do it but most of people will not need it.
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In my opinion, it is necessary to translate patents in as much languages as possible.
By this, information about already existing patents get more clear and easy to achieve. That facilitates inventors’ opportunities to fila a patent themselves.
But a restriction to only the languages English, French and German would be distortion of competition for countries in which this languages are spoken.
I would propose that each patent has to be published at least in English and a second language, that can be chosen by the owner.
If it would be possible to translate patents in all existing languages by making use of a translation technology, this would be the best solution.
Even though it might be related to investments in the technology the result could be a facilitation and by this stimulation of the patent industry.
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In my opinion, the most important is to have all European patents available in English, in order to assure an easy access and understanding of the patent for everyone in the world. However, this language problem has to be viewed as part of a broader issue, which is the reform of patent system in Europe.
Nowadays, patents granted by European Patent Office (EPO) are valid in European member states, “but only takes effect once it has been validated. Validation is understood to mean the delivery of a translation of the patent that has been granted, in the official language of the country, to that country’s Office.” (Source: Portuguese National Institute of Industrial Property).
I think that the current mechanism may difficult patent applications by small and medium firms. European authorities should promote the creation of an integrated system with all national patent offices. The system operation should be something like this:
1. Any national firm can apply for a patent in any member state of UE. The application could be for a national patent or for a European patent (higher fees in this last case).
2. The application can be filled in the member state’s official language or in English.
3. If the patent is granted, it should be published in the language used in the application and in English (if not the application language). If the firm has applied for a European patent, the English version of the text must prevail over the national language version.
4. All patents granted in the member states are automatically integrated in the data base of the EPO.
Fernando P. Coelho (University of Porto, Portugal)
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