A Singular Patent System for All: The Growing Momentum for International Patent Law Harmonization

The efforts made to standardize and coordinate patent rules and regulations across many nations are called international patent law, or patent law harmonization. States view it as a joint effort to better serve their population with an international public benefit, namely patent law.

These endeavors’ objective is to establish a coherent and uniform global structure that facilitates smooth and effective patent exchange. Furthermore, piracy can result in large losses for businesses due to lax patent protection regulations in some countries.

Nevertheless, convincing a whole country to change its intellectual property rules to safeguard the interests of a trading partner abroad is often challenging.

Harmonization of Patent Law: A Historical Account

The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, established in 1883, is where the harmonization of patent laws originated. Discussions on the legal implications of an international grace period on patent law started in 1983, about a century later.

The expansion of the Paris Convention’s work marked the beginning of the evolution of patent law harmonization and ultimately resulted in the preparation of a treaty supplement. Even though the 1991 Diplomatic Conference was a failure, some of the proposed treaty’s provisions were incorporated into the 1994 TRIPS Agreement. Novelty and creative actions are examples of unresolved issues.

After the focus of WIPO negotiations switched to formalities in 1995, the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) was adopted in 2000. The PLT aimed to harmonize and streamline formal procedures for both national and regional patent applications.

The WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP) began working on a Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) in 2000 after seeing the need for substantive patent law harmonization. However, in 2006, the negotiations ended due to divergent opinions among WIPO Member States.

Even now, a lot of organizations are working hard to make the dream of a global, uniform patent system that facilitates easy cross-border transactions for all involved come true.

The Advantages of Harmonizing Patent Law

International trade is bolstered by the recognized advantages of harmonizing patent laws. Depending on the area in which it is implemented, let’s examine these in more detail and consider some other benefits that have emerged from this initiative:

• first-to-file methodology

In the US and certain other parts of the world, switching from the first-to-invent system to the first-to-file system is the most significant component of patent harmonization. This system is thought to be better and presents less of a risk to the interests of investors. It has already been adopted by the US.

Because a simple comparison of filing dates will resolve any issue of priority, the first-to-file system significantly reduces the cost of the patenting process, making it particularly advantageous for smaller businesses and independent investors. It also lessens the inherent disadvantage in interference proceedings against large corporations.

• Settlement of patent issues more easily

Harmonizing patent law can make resolving disputes easier. Patent law inconsistencies may give rise to disagreements and legal action. By providing a standard framework that eliminates ambiguity and variances in interpretation, as well as patent filing dates, harmonization helps you lower the likelihood of problems.

• Global cooperation and rapid invention

International cooperation and collaboration in research and development are facilitated by a unified patent system. It promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing between businesses and inventors. It also facilitates collaboration by offering a uniform framework for knowledge transfer and patent trading.

• Economy of scale

When patent laws are uniform, businesses and inventors do not have to struggle to understand and traverse obscure international legal frameworks in order to obtain protection for their ideas across many jurisdictions. As a result, the application process becomes less redundant and the related legal expenses are significantly reduced.

• Benefits of international commerce

Businesses with intellectual property rights will feel more at ease joining the patent market when those rights are given a consistent and sufficient level of protection. Standardized intellectual property protection creates a formulaic economic climate that promotes trade.

The advantages don’t stop here. If you are in the US, Europe, or a developing nation, you can consider distinct advantages based on where you are.

when looking for protection for their ideas across many jurisdictions in international legal systems. As a result, the application process becomes less redundant, and the related legal expenses are significantly reduced.

The Difficulties of Harmonizing Patent Law

Harmonizing patent laws has several advantages, but there are also some drawbacks. Let’s examine them:

• Natural national conflicts

The public interest in advancing scientific and economic progress at the national level clashes with the rights of innovators. In order to influence economic and technological progress within their own borders, national governments aim to maintain control over their patent systems. Some governmental agencies may also view knowledge sharing as knowledge leaking. As a result, some countries are opposed to harmonizing patent laws due to concerns about economic consequences.

• Diversity issues in patent law

One major barrier to harmonization is the inconsistency of patent rules across nations. Differences in what constitutes patentable subject matter, application procedures, examination processes, and remedies all add to the complexity, making harmonization more challenging.

• First-to-File Problem

There is a chance that different parties will receive patents for the same innovation in various nations due to differences in the first-to-file and first-to-invent procedures. While most other nations function according to the first-to-file principle, the United States adheres to the first-to-invent system.

These difficulties highlight how complex the issues are and how they need to be resolved to harmonize patent laws.

Emerging Trends and Technologies

The world is getting ‘flatter’ every year, and since new technology innovations are making information transfer easier, now is the perfect moment to start the harmonization process. Knowledge transfer has become increasingly easier with the introduction of widely used technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and the Internet of Things.

A popularly adopted new technology, blockchain offers several useful characteristics, such as distributed data management, asymmetric encryption, timestamping, tamper-proofing, and smart contract functionality. This system includes features for trading patents, registering and storing patents, protecting user privacy during the trading and registration processes, and having complete control over data access.

Although IoT IP regulations are developing, there are currently no set standards, which could present governance issues. IoT technology patenting is becoming more popular, but there are certain drawbacks as well. IoT patents may lead to expensive legal battles, particularly in cases involving licensing and cross-licensing. There is a big legal and technological barrier between guaranteeing interoperability and protecting rights at the same time. Furthermore, there are security dangers associated with IoT, such as cyberterrorism and bullying, due to the vast amounts of data involved. To solve this, businesses need to develop advanced technology for processing data and put strong security measures in place to protect users from possible harm.

Stakeholders will unavoidably be forced by this to adopt a more unified patent search and protection system. All the drawbacks will be instantly eliminated with a worldwide solution to IP.

This also applies to the field of artificial intelligence, which is growing quickly. This is demonstrated by the fact that, on average, 40% of all AI-related patents that were examined between 2013 and 2016 grew at a rate of 28% annually.

To create a balanced patent system, it may be necessary to harmonize patent laws; however, this will require an understanding of the current patent data from different countries. This is where tools for searching and analyzing patents will be extremely important.

There is no denying the advantages of harmonizing patent law. Even if there can be some difficulties, a lot of these difficulties are caused by the persistent lack of standardization. The process of conducting patent research and prosecution will be made simpler by the global implementation of a standardized system of intellectual property protection.

The fact that international authorities are debating significant and all-encompassing steps to create this one system is not surprising.