According to European Generic medicines Association (EGA), three areas in particular – failings in the system for granting quality patents, patent ‘thickets’ and follow-on patents and patent litigation procedures – have failed to ensure an appropriate balance between incentives and competition.
The report maintains that the originator companies unjustly prolong their patent monopoly of their existing products with the help of follow-on patents thereby keeping generic competition off the market.
The EGA urged the EU patent system to reward true inventions only and discourage patent applications for ordinary inventions. It also pointed the need for allocating sufficient resources to the European Patent Office to enhance the quality of its patent examiners, and increase its numbers of more experienced senior examiners.
The EGA has also called for the establishment of a central EU court to deal with questions of patent invalidity and infringement in order to simplify the patent litigation process and cut down litigation costs.
Greg Perry, director general of the European Generic medicines Association, said: “Patent linkage is inconsistent with European law and must not be allowed to become ensconced in practice.”