Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital

Piotr Wisniewski
2) Slow growth in patenting – Europe has shown a sluggish upward trend in worldwide patenting
since <strong>the</strong> mid-1980s, elsewhere (except for Japan – whose broader economic challenges have
been mirrored by drastically shrinking patent creation) patent growth has been by far more
spectacular;
3) Intense patent cooperation with <strong>the</strong> United States (and vice-versa), both jurisdictions exhibit
numerous similarities;
4) Limited proportion <strong>of</strong> EU patents invented abroad: this aspect <strong>of</strong> international diffusion trails
behind world and most developed countries’ averages;
5) Indications <strong>of</strong> ballooning infringement – Europe does not have a seamless system <strong>of</strong>
monitoring IP <strong>of</strong>fenses, yet <strong>the</strong> available surveys demonstrate a rising wave <strong>of</strong> infringements
against IP rights, especially originating from East Asian emerging markets (notably China).
Mature jurisdictions (including <strong>the</strong> EU) tend to award numerous protections for innovation developed
in <strong>the</strong> emerging world, however, <strong>the</strong> reverse is seldom true: emerging markets are not equally
concerned over workable safeguards for EU or US intellectual assets. In view <strong>of</strong> such factors,
fragmentation and internal competition (“cannibalism”) <strong>of</strong> EU member jurisdictions governing
intellectual property stand out as a glaring and damaging anachronism. The Europe <strong>of</strong> today is thus
incapable <strong>of</strong> protecting its intellectual base effectively. Establishment <strong>of</strong> a single intellectual property
court and an EU-wide patent would be a prerequisite for a constructive reappraisal <strong>of</strong> current EU
innovation strategy, whose success has been far from staggering. Ultimately, in response to <strong>the</strong>
diminishing gravity <strong>of</strong> Europe and <strong>the</strong> United States in <strong>the</strong> worldwide diffusion <strong>of</strong> intellectual property,
both economic areas should mull <strong>the</strong> merger <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir patenting systems.
6. Appendix 1: Percentage <strong>of</strong> patents owned by foreign residents -
international review for 1999-2007
Country/
Year
Australia
Canada
Japan
Ne<strong>the</strong>rlands
US
EU (27)*
Type <strong>of</strong>
cooperation
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Total cooperation
with abroad
23.9 28.4 27.8 28.0 29.8 28.6 25.7 28.6 28.9
Japan 0.9 2.0 0.5 0.5 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.3
US 10.6 12.2 13.1 13.0 15.5 14.4 10.9 13.4 13.0
EU (27) 9.6 10.8 11.0 11.3 9.7 9.4 9.6 9.6 10.3
Total cooperation
with abroad
35.9 36.1 38.1 38.1 42.2 38.7 35.5 38.4 37.2
Japan 1.2 0.5 0.5 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.5
US 21.5 23.0 24.8 25.0 25.8 22.5 21.7 22.5 24.6
EU (27) 9.2 9.7 9.3 9.0 12.9 13.1 10.7 12.0 9.8
Total cooperation
with abroad
4.2 4.4 4.3 4.6 4.3 4.1 4.1 3.5 3.4
Japan n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
US 2.4 2.3 1.9 1.7 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.7 1.3
EU (27) 1.3 1.6 2.0 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.7 1.4 1.6
Total cooperation
with abroad
23.4 20.8 21.6 20.9 22.9 22.6 25.6 26.9 26.5
Japan 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3
US 7.7 6.1 5.4 5.9 6.7 5.9 6.4 6.4 5.9
EU (27) 12.3 11.5 12.5 12.0 13.5 13.5 16.0 17.6 18.0
Total cooperation
with abroad
12.6 13.1 13.6 14.9 14.8 14.5 14.8 15.3 14.6
Japan 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.5
US n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
EU (27) 7.4 8.0 8.0 9.3 8.7 8.8 8.7 8.7 8.3
Total cooperation
with abroad
12.0 12.4 12.2 12.1 12.3 12.6 12.8 12.5 12.1
Japan 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.9
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