The Commission refuses to comment on EPO judges sitting on EPLA court
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The Commission refuses to answer Marc Tarabella MEP about the lack of judicial independence of the proposed EPLA court, cause by the fact that members of the EPO Technical Boards of Appeal can be judges there.
Question
- WRITTEN QUESTION E-3525/06 by Marc Tarabella (PSE) to the Commission Regarding the current wording of the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA), will the Technical Board of Appeal (TBA) judges be able to be candidates for the European Patent Judiciary (EPJ)?
Answer
- E-3525/06EN
Answer given by Mr McCreevy on behalf of the Commission (19.9.2006) The Commission is currently in the process of examining the issue of the draft European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA) and the possibility of moving the project forward in the context of its consultation on the future patent policy in Europe. The consultation was launched on 16 January 2006 and proved to be a huge success, generating over 2 500 answers from interested circles. A public hearing took place on 12 July
- The Commission is now in the process of analysing the responses and drawing its conclusions. Naturally, the Parliament will be informed about the Commission's findings and recommendations as soon as they have been finalized. The question as to whether, under the draft EPLA, judges from the Technical Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office could be candidates for the European Patent Judiciary is a question that would form part of the EPLA negotiations. The Community is not a party to the negotiations and can therefore not comment on this issue.
