The European Commission has proposed the introduction of a common Community patent system, saying it will save small businesses thousands of pounds in patenting costs and give EU-wide protection to their inventions for many who have been unable to afford it in the past.

The patent, set as a key priority by the EU summit in Lisbon, should be available from the end of 2001 if ministers approve the Commission's draft regulation.

Currently businesses may apply to the European Patent Office in Munich for a "European" patent, but what they get is only a collection of national patents, each subject to different national rules.

The cost of such patents is also prohibitive for small companies because of an expensive document translation requirement.

This means the cost of the current European patent is three to five times higher than that of Japanese and US patents.

At present, a typical European patent (to apply in eight memberstates) costs about €49,900 (£39,299), of which €12,600 is accounted for by translation costs. Where the patent applies to all 15 member-states the translation costs rise to €17,000.

The Commission proposes to replace multiple applications with a single common patent and to require translation only into the three working languages of the Patent Office, reducing translation costs to €2,200. National patents would persist.

The new patent system should also offer a greater degree of legal certainty and consistency as disputes are referred to national courts which adjudicate on the basis of national law.