BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union ministers endorsed on Monday plans for a new EU-wide patent system that would halve the cost of registering new inventions as part of moves to boost competitiveness and spur growth.

Ending a 30-year stalemate to get the new system approved, the ministers struck a deal after agreeing they would set up a centralized court for patent decisions by 2010.

Germany, which wanted a greater role for national EU courts, withdrew its objections and backed a planned Community Patent Court after it was granted up until the end of the decade to adapt to the system.

"We have a common approach," Hansjoerg Geiger, German secretary of state for the justice ministry, told reporters at a meeting of EU industry and research ministers.

The EU sees a single system for approving patents as part of efforts to make the 15-nation bloc the world's most competitive economy by 2010. Industry had also wanted simpler procedures.

The issue of the common court was the final point to be resolved. EU member states had also argued over which language should be used for a patent.

The ministers struck a broad agreement, but technical details still have to be worked out before formal adoption of the law expected later this year.

CHEAPER PATENTS

The Commission says a system of EU patents will reduce the cost of getting patent rights for inventions in the bloc to 25,000 euros ($27,040) from 50,000 euros.

Although this would still be more than twice the cost of a patent in the United States, the EU sees the planned move as a positive step.

"The single patent is an essential element of competitiveness," said Noelle Lenoir, French EU affairs minister. Technology advocates have long called for a revision of the EU patenting system, arguing that the current relatively cumbersome procedure creates a competitive disadvantage for EU firms, particularly for young technology companies.

"Anything that streamlines the patent process is good for innovation. And anything that speeds up innovation is good for the technology sector," said Chris Lewis, a technology analyst with Yankee Group.

The language row which had held up the patent proposal was agreed last year. Under the new system only the patent's claims, the part of the document which describes use and function, will be translated in all 11 EU official languages.

The rest of the document will be translated in English, German or French. Translation fees make up the bulk of the costs for patenting inventions in the EU.

The Commission, which drafted the planned bill, was against a long transition period for the new court as it wanted to see the single patent system and the court kick off at the same time.

EU officials said they did not expect the system to be up and running before 2010, the same time as the court, and not considered a long transition period. (Additional reporting by Bernhard Warner in London) ($1=.9247 Euro)