Brevets: le prochain terrain de bataille pour le changement climatique

Il ne faut pas que la pratique consistant à utiliser des brevets pour bloquer les concurrents n’envahisse le secteur de l’éco-innovation, comme de nombreuses personnes estime qu’elle l’a fait dans le domaine des technologies de l’information et des communications, selon Alison Brimelow, la présidente de l’Office européen de brevets.

The following text was contributed by Alison Brimelow and is reproduced below in its entirety.

« Climate change, though much debated, remains a disputed subject. A steady stream of headlines warning of worsening impacts of climate change is putting all of our societies under pressure to speed up efforts to reduce mankind’s contribution to this looming crisis, yet serious minds differ on the subject. But the existence of a possible threat in itself acts as a stimulus to innovators, and eco-innovation may prove the next battle ground for the reputation of patents. 

Against this background the EPO, with the European Commission and the Slovenian EU Presidency, have made patents and eco-technology the focus of the European Patent Forum, which takes place in Ljubljana in early May. The EPF is the first major conference ever to tackle the question of how the patent system needs to be adapted to foster innovation in the climate sector. Participants include leading experts with contrasting views on the current patent system, and the changes needed to face up to one of the most interesting and controversial challenges of our times.  Our partners, the Slovenian EU Presidency and the European Commission, add political profile to the Ljubljana Forum, together with distinguished advocates such as Ivo de Boer, chairman of the Bali Climate Conference.

At the heart of the debate are the questions of cost and access to new technologies. The former is a huge concern for the developing world countries whose ability to contribute to combating global warming is obviously constrained by the cost and availability of green technologies. Does patent protection significantly add to these costs? And is access to green technologies too severely limited by companies holding patents on these technologies? Critics will certainly answer both questions affirmatively while defenders of the present system can easily point to the crucial importance of published patent documents as a vast, freely accessible source of technological information which encourages others to take innovation further forward.

We can all agree, however, that the patent system must not become an obstacle to the development of green technologies in Europe. In other words, the practice of using patents to handicap or block the efforts of competitors must not be allowed to creep into this sector as many believe it has in the area of communication and information technologies. Here, multiple patents owned by different patentees cover individual products and can serve as real obstacles to moving the technologies forward.  Supporters of a « soft IP regime » are likely to advocate the introduction of the price mechanism to save clean technologies from the affliction of these so-called « patent thickets ». In other words, patent owners can ask to be paid for the use of patented know-how but they cannot block it.

Initiatives such as Eco-Patent Commons managed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have already been launched to boost the spread of clean technologies. Companies participating in this project are making available patents on clean technologies free of charge. A slightly different approach is planned for the « Green Intellectual Property Project, » which will pay a proportion of patent-derived income into a trust fund for supporting the development of patent-protected green technologies.

At the very least, the European Patent Forum does much to put the spotlight on a vital aspect of Europe’s bid to lead the world towards effective actions to mitigate the perils of climate change. It should also demonstrate the EPO’s determination to lead thought and debate on this mission while underlining the indispensable contribution that invention has made and will continue to make. As in previous years, the Forum sees the award of the European Inventor of the Year prize. Among the twelve inventions selected for the award, the judges have also nominated appropriately a number of innovations which contribute to fighting climate change, for example by building lighter and more fuel-efficient cars, or by making off-shore wind facilities more durable. »