The European Council on 29 June concluded the negotiations on the EU’s future unitary patent system. The long-awaited decision paves the way for establishing less expensive, simpler and more efficient patent protection for businesses, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, in the EU.

The leaders had to solve the last outstanding issue: the seat of the Unified Patent Court’s Central Division of the Court of First Instance. They agreed that it would be based in Paris and have two specialised sections, one in London and the other in Munich. The office of the Court’s President will also be based in Paris.… [Continue reading]

The new EU Patent that is currently being debated within the European Union is completely different from the existing European patents, which are granted under the European Patent Convention (EPC).

European patents, once granted, become a bundle of nationally enforceable patents, in the designated states. Enforcement must be carried out through national courts in individual countries and revocation cannot be accomplished centrally once the nine-month opposition period has expired. Current procedures to apply for a patent are complicated and expensive. Once granted by the European Patent Office (EPO), patents have to be validated by every EU country where the inventor wishes to have protection.… [Continue reading]