FFII: EPO/Roland Berger Study unveils patenting costs
[ DE | EPO-Reform | Industrial Copyright]
Before Christmas 2005 the European Patent Office published a study by German consultancy company Roland Berger. In August 2004 the study was first presented to the EPO according to the document. The late publication of the study raises questions as the study confirms the extraordinary transaction costs intensity of the European patent system. In the context of the heated software patenting debate in late 2004 these figures were likely kept secret in defense of the software patenting pratice of the EPO which the European Council proposal wanted to codify. The only substantial proposal for cost reduction given by the Roland Berger study is to reduce languages to English only. A survey on the cost of patenting is based on 253 telephone and postal interviews among EPO patentees located in Europe, the US and Japan. The study also tracks inhouse costs of patenting.
Study
Currently the study is made available in English language only although the EPO features German, French and English as its official languages.
Figures
"A company from an EPC state will pay on average EUR 24 100 to have a Euro-direct patent granted and validated;"
"The total cost of obtaining a standard Euro-direct patent in 2003 was EUR 30 530 (pp. 97, 117), including:
pre-filing expenditure excluding R&D (EUR 6 240),
- internal cost of processing (EUR 3 070),
- attorney fees (EUR 4 930),
- translation of application and claims (EUR 3 020),
- official EPO fees (EUR 3 410),
- validation (EUR 9 870)."
"The cost of a Euro-PCT patent was *EUR 46 700*"
What politicians believe
"Das Deutsche Patentamt nimmt mit weitem Abstand die geringsten Kosten für Patentanmeldungen in Europa. Eine Patentanmeldung kostet 60 Euro." / "The German PTO takes the smallest fees for patent applications in Europe. A patent application costs 60 euro"
Brigitte Zypries (Heise chat 2004)
Economic Majority in software development
Conceptual protection rights for software have to be cheap, fast and narrow. Existing Patent law does not fulfil these requirements. See also: Industrial copyright discussion
