Awwal 12, 1432 H/Feb15, 2011, SPA -- The European Parliament on Tuesday approved a move by 11 European Union states to set up a joint patent system, ignoring warnings from a top lawyer that the proposal may be illegal. At present, each EU state issues its own patents, imposing huge costs on budding inventors. EU states agreed years ago to create a joint patent, but failed to agree on which languages it should use, with Italy and Spain blocking any deal that left Italian and Spanish out, according to dpa. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Tuesday endorsed a proposal by Britain, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Sweden to set up a joint patent in English, French and German. The 11 countries applied for EU permission to use "enhanced cooperation," a legal method under which a subset of at least nine EU members can work together more closely if they so wish. In theory, member states are now clear to hold a March 10 final vote on the proposal, since Italy and Spain do not have enough support to block the adoption, diplomat said. However, the patent has already been challenged in the European Court, with opponents saying the language regime breaks EU rules. One of the court's top lawyers has already said this is the case, and such comments are widely expected to be reflected in the final ruling.
