Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy:
We need to be careful in judging whether a legal act is really necessary. We need to be clearer about subsidiarity and proportionality. That is what our “better regulation” initiative is about. Sometimes, less is more. We are evaluating legislation and propose to cut 'red tape” by 25%.
Thierry Stoll and Jacqueline Minor, European Commission said:
The immediate consequence of this technological evolution is that one of the issues that is becoming acute is the current lack of political governance in the field of patents. This is directly relevant to the EPO: it cannot continue to look at patents as a purely technical issue, where patents are granted and then used purely as a technical and economic exercise - the big question is whether the political world exercises sufficient influence.
Professor Michael Blakeney wrote:
It seems ludicrous that a patent system offers twenty years' protection in all areas of technology, when investment in biotech technology is so much greater than in mechanical technology. A patent is a clumsy instrument and more flexible incentives could be provided, such as tax incentives on investment. If patents are truly to encourage innovation, then the system has to be modified in countries that most need it. We need global novelty - too many countries cannot be left unable to participate.
