Commission optimistic that Swedes will see European patent court through

Stephanie Bodoni (Bloomberg) has reported Margot Froehlinger as saying that chances of a pan-European patent litigation system are better than ever. Ms Froehlinger, a director at the European Commission in charge of the EU proposal, suggested that this was because Europe was in an economic crisis and every crisis provides the chance to turn it into an opportunity.

The Brussels-based regulator still needs the backing of the region's 27 nations if its 2007 proposal to create a single EU patent and a centralised court to handle disputes over inventions is to come into operation. An earlier debate on the same plan broke down in 2004 when governments failed to agree on the languages to be used. The proposal on the table now is more straightforward and will make headway under the Swedish EU presidency, said Froehlinger.