{"id":3416,"date":"2020-12-15T19:35:43","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T19:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/?p=3416"},"modified":"2020-12-15T19:41:48","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T19:41:48","slug":"eu-action-plan-5-key-focus-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/2020\/12\/eu-action-plan-5-key-focus-areas.html","title":{"rendered":"EU Action plan to identify 5 key focus areas for IP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IP_action_plan_to_support_EU_recovery_and_resilience.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>The challenge ahead: capitalizing on Europe\u2019s intellectual assets to boost recovery and resilience<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Intangible assets such as inventions, artistic and cultural creations, brands, software, knowhow, business processes and data are the cornerstones of today\u2019s economy. Over the last two decades, the volume of annual investments in such \u2018intellectual property products\u2019 increased by 87% in the EU, while the volume of tangible (non-residential) investments increased by only 30%. Investments in intangibles were also significantly less affected by the 2008 economic crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><!--more--><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In today\u2019s economy, industrial products and processes increasingly rely on intangibles protected by IPRs, and sound intellectual property (IP) management has become part and parcel of any successful business strategy. Industries that make intensive use of IP play an essential role in the EU economy and offer valuable and sustainable jobs to society. IPR-intensive industries currently account for almost 45% of Europe\u2019s GDP and directly contribute to the creation of almost 30% of all jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">There have been identified five challenges:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>First, despite a lot of progress, part of the EU\u2019s IP system remains too fragmented, with procedures that are complex and costly and that sometimes lack clarity.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">European patents are subject to expensive national validation procedures and parallel litigation in multiple EU countries. For pharmaceuticals, protection through supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) is only available at national level. Design and geographical indication (GI) protection should be improved. Where registration is necessary to protect one\u2019s IPRs, one-stop shop procedures, offering the right coverage, should be the norm, not the exception.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Second, too many companies, in particular SMEs, and too many researchers do not make full use of the opportunities offered by IP protection.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Only 9% of EU SMEs have registered IP rights. In the current crisis, IP registration numbers have dropped, to the detriment of companies\u2019 competitiveness and resilience. Recent analysis shows that SMEs\u2019 reluctance to use IP rights is largely due to lack of knowledge about IP. Even if they use IPRs, they find the system too costly, complex and difficult to navigate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In addition to the low levels of protection of their IP, SMEs are not taking full advantage of its commercial exploitation. Knowledge-intensive SMEs seeking to finance their operations often do not adopt appropriate IP strategies that would help valorise their intangible capital.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Third, tools to facilitate access to IP (and therefore allow the take up and diffusion of technologies) are insufficiently developed.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Fourth, in spite of continued efforts to turn the tide, counterfeiting and piracy are still thriving, including by taking advantage of digital technologies.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Finally, there is lack of fair play at global level and EU businesses often lose out when operating abroad.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Certain non-EU countries do not sufficiently protect IP, often to the harm of EU companies. The EU must harness its potential to act as a global norm-setter. It must step up efforts to fight abusive practices, such as bad-faith IP-registrations and other misappropriations of IP. Above all, it should lead by example: develop state-of-the art regulatory solutions to global issues such as the licensing of SEPs or the way data can be shared.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In response to these five challenges, and building on input provided by Member States and stakeholders, this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/docs\/IP_action_plan_to_support_EU_recovery_and_resilience.pdf\">action plan<\/a> identifies five key focus areas, with specific proposals for action to:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">upgrade the system for IP protection,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">incentivise the use and deployment of IP, notably by SMEs,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">facilitate access to and sharing of intangible assets while guaranteeing a fair return on investment,<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">ensure better IP enforcement, and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">improve fair play at global level.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Better protection of IP<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">A first priority is to ensure that EU innovators have access to fast, effective and affordable protection tools. To make this happen, it is necessary to secure the launch of the unitary patent system. This will create a one-stop shop for businesses, considerably simplifying patenting in the EU, boosting transparency and facilitating licensing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In addition, centralised litigation before the new Unified Patent Court will improve legal certainty and avoid parallel proceedings in multiple Member States, considerably reducing litigation costs. Closely linked to patents are supplementary protection certificates (SPCs), which offer an additional period of IP protection for patented medicinal and plant protection products that are subject to lengthy clinical trials and market authorisation processes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The Commission will revise the EU legislation on design protection. The aim is to improve the accessibility and affordability of design protection in the EU, especially for the textile, furniture and electronics ecosystems, and to ensure that the design protection regime better supports the transition to the digital and green economy. Registration procedures are partly outdated and in some cases involve an unnecessary administrative burden.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The protection of new forms of design (e.g. animated designs, graphical user interfaces) is not sufficiently clear. Also, a lack of clarity on the scope of design rights poses challenges, particularily in relation to the increasing use of 3D printing or for the enforcement of design rights against infringing goods transiting the EU.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;\">AI technologies are creating new works and inventions. These developments raise the question of what protection should be given to products created with the help of AI technologies. Whilst inventions and creations autonomously created by AI technologies are still mostly a matter for the future, the Commission takes the view that AI systems should not be treated as authors or inventors. This is also supported by the line taken by the EPO in the Dabus case.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In response to challenges, and building on input provided by Member States and stakeholders, this action plan identifies five key focus areas, with specific proposals for action to<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/2020\/12\/eu-action-plan-5-key-focus-areas.html\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">EU Action plan to identify 5 key focus areas for IP<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,5,29,7,11,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intellectual-property","category-copyright","category-digital","category-enforcement","category-eu","category-law-review","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3416"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3420,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3416\/revisions\/3420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dekuzu.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}