The drive to establish a unified, EU-wide patent system has received a new impetus from the Union's member states. Europe's economy ministers, at the Competitiveness Council on 29 May, took stock of the rapid progress of negotiations on the Community patent and a future patent litigation system, made in the last months by the Slovenian EU Presidency. However, a number of member states reiterated their divergent positions on the controversial issues of translation arrangements and costs, proving that a compromise will still be difficult to reach. According to diplomats, as many as 18 of the 27 delegations have spoken during the part of the Council devoted to the patent system. All of them appreciated the energy of the Slovenians in pushing for headway on the issue, but that was about the only consensual view they expressed.
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