OPENING OF THE SYMPOSIUM AND WELCOMING ADDRESS
Alberto MARTINS
Minister of Justice of Portugal
President of the Supreme Court of Justice,
Judges,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to welcome you in Lisbon on the occasion of this 15th European Patent Judges' Symposium. I am pleased to say that we have 32 countries represented at this symposium, from Europe and all over the world - a total of 132 participants.
It is a privilege to host here today one of the largest meetings of judges, which aims at promoting debate and exchange of experiences with magistrates from different judicial traditions. This meeting, besides the undeniable importance of the topics to be discussed, also brings together experts from different countries, allowing for the plural debate which is essential on these matters.
At this 15th symposium we will have a wide range of presentations, which will allow us to discuss important subjects related to the protection of inventions, with the most recent legal decisions concerning the legal framework of the future EU-wide patent judicial system as well as the future of the EU patent. I am sure these presentations will be of great quality, giving you the possibility to enjoy the high level debate, to which we are accustomed in this forum.
We are really committed to ensuring that Europe becomes the most competitive economy in the world, which of course requires a strengthening of industrial property and the patent system.
Industrial property is increasingly present in business strategies in the international knowledge-based economy, characterised by globalisation and by the virtuality of competitive factors. This is undeniable, and the Portuguese government is working very hard to enhance our national innovation system. As an example of that, patents have become one of the priorities of this government's programme setting ambitious goals to double public investment and treble private-sector investment in R&D, and also to increase the number of patents threefold.
Good results were achieved, and it is with great satisfaction that we note very encouraging indicators showing a positive impact on the use of industrial property. Based on a set of measures, the government's policies promote a system of innovation and incentives for companies to invest in important areas as science, technology, information society and the knowledge-based economy.
All policies aiming at enhancing innovation capacity at national or European level necessarily increase the number of protected inventions and pressure on the judicial system due to more litigation. The legal system must therefore be equipped to meet these challenges. Only a dissuasive corpus of rules together with efficient courts can lend credibility to the industrial property system, making the country more attractive and encouraging companies to continue investing in innovation and R&D.
Today, the challenges faced by courts and more particularly by judges come also from the infringement of industrial property rights, causing real damage to companies. This situation is of great concern to us, and this is the reason why we have been thinking long and hard about how to make the system more credible, how to make it more attractive for those who wish to invest in creativity and in the development of new products and technical solutions. The government believes that the solution must involve the creation of more specialised courts.
In this context I must mention the very important step recently taken in Portugal to create new courts to deal specially with intellectual property. I am sure that these new courts will ensure the uniform case law needed and the desired speed in the settlement of disputes.
In our opinion, similar efforts must be also made at European level. Besides the creation of a unitary patent title, we need to create a centralised system for the settlement of conflicts in order to overcome the current fragmentation, offering harmonised judicial decisions and legal security for citizens and companies.
Both in the context of a future unified court system and within the different national judicial systems in the area of patents, the judge's role is decisive. More than good laws, or laws harmonised at European level, we must also ensure decisions that guarantee the correct application of the law and the balance that must always exist with patents – between the monopoly conferred by the patent and the public interest in continued access to technological information.
With that in mind, we have tried to identify important and topical issues to discuss at this three-day symposium. They are matters of great technical complexity and their implementation is often highly controversial. I refer of course to subjects such as the exclusion from patentability of methods applied to the human or animal body by therapy or surgery, or even the issue of the patentability of computer programs, subjects that will be presented during this Conference.
Applying the law in cases involving these issues is no easy task. It requires of judges a sustained effort to monitor and analyse highly technical issues. In this context, training is a major challenge and deserves our greatest attention, especially in an area which, as we know, requires constant monitoring of developments occurring in different areas of technology.
The training of judges is also one of the priorities of the Portuguese government as reflected in its current programme which aims:
on the one hand, to enhance the role of the Centre for Judicial Studies, making sure that there is permanent training and increasing the involvement of other institutions, such as universities, in the early training of judges;
on the other hand, to ensure pluralistic and diversified training, given by teachers with different fields of expertise, and to increase the specialisation of our judges, thus equipping them for their role.
I am sure that the next three days will be a further opportunity to develop our skills in this complex but fascinating area.
On behalf of the government of the Portuguese Republic, I wish you all a very profitable conference. I also hope that you will enjoy your stay in Portugal as well as the social programme arranged for you.
I wish you all an enjoyable and successful symposium.
Thank you.