I am in touch with some colleagues who advocate for a very much disadvantaged minority: Patentees!
A legitimate initiative, indeed. Just think of it: Patent owner are milked over and over again! Obtaining a patent is an expensive exercise in the first place, and others are piggy-back riding on patentees’ outstanding technical achievements later on for free. On top of that, the state pockets annually recurring fees. And as if all this was not unfair enough, patent owner also have to finance the enforcement of their patents against free-riders.
Could patentees actually be treated any more terribly?!
A straight-forward tweak of Art. 1 para. 3 PatA that is currently considered for inclusion in the Federal Constitution could be as simple as this:
Patents are granted without the guarantee of the State, but the costs of enforcing a patent are borne by the State.
This could be pragmatically funded e.g. with an almost neglectable increase of the value added tax (VAT). Court fees of the FPC could accordingly be abolished (btw, did you ever realize that the building of the Federal Administrative Court where the FPC holds its hearings closely matches the shape of Dagobert Duck’s ‘Geldspeicher‘?!), and patentees might submit their counsel’s invoices for legal representation and assistance of the patent attorney (necessary expenses, you know) to the court for refund or direct settlement.
A committee is currently being formally established to further elaborate the popular initiative. The current working title is ‘Patent-Pflegeinitiative’ (apologies, but this only works in German language).
The committee is still looking for motivated people to join; please use the contact form below. You may also drop your spontaneous ideas or visions on the topic in the form, or in the comments at the very bottom of this post. Thank you.
Cheers,
Martin Wilming
—
Join the committee for a popular initiative to pave the way for state-funded patent litigation now. Leave your contact details below, to stay tuned.
—
BE ON THE KNOW
