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]

The European Patent Office (EPO) recently announced that it has agreed with The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to jointly develop a patent classification system on the basis of the European Classification system, ECLA.… [Continue reading]