European patent law
European Patent Organisation
European Patent Convention
Patent law of the European Union
Biotech directive
Centralization and harmonization
Community patent Brussels Regime European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA) London Agreement
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European patent law covers a wide range of legislations including national patent laws, the Strasbourg Convention of 1963, the European Patent Convention of 1973, and a number of European Union directives and regulations. The European Patent Organisation ( EPO or EPOrg) is a public international organisation created in 1977 to grant Patents in Europe under The Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention (EPC is a multilateral Treaty European Union patent law is a subset of European patent law. Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions is a European Union directive in the The Community patent, also known as the European Community Patent or EC patent and sometimes abbreviated as COMPAT, is a Patent law measure The Brussels Regime is a set of rules regulating the allocation of jurisdiction in international legal disputes of a civil or commercial nature involving The London Legislation (or " Statutory law " is law which has been promulgated (or " Enacted quot by a Legislature or other Governing A nation is a Human Cultural and Social Community. In as much as most members never meet each other yet feel a common bond it may be considered A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society The Convention on the Unification of Certain Points of Substantive Law on Patents for Invention, also called Strasbourg Convention or Strasbourg Patent Convention, Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention (EPC is a multilateral Treaty Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. A directive is a legislative act of the European Union which requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving A regulation is a Legislative act of the European Union which becomes immediately enforceable as law in all member states simultaneously

Patents having effect in European states may be obtained either nationally, via national patent offices, or via a centralised patent prosecution process at the European Patent Office (EPO). Patent prosecution describes the interaction between an applicant or their representative and a Patent office with regard to a Patent, or an application for The European Patent Organisation ( EPO or EPOrg) is a public international organisation created in 1977 to grant Patents in Europe under In both cases, the application procedure can either be direct or through the international filing procedure provided for by the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The Patent Cooperation Treaty ( PCT) is an International Patent Law Treaty, concluded in 1970 ^[1] The EPO is not a body of the European Union and the states contracting to the European Patent Convention (the legal basis for the EPO) are different from those forming the European Union. ^[2] A patent granted by the EPO does not lead to a single European Union-wide patent enforceable before one single court, but rather to independent national patents enforceable by national courts. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in A court is a forum used by a power base to adjudicate disputes and dispense civil, labour administrative and criminal Justice under its

European patent law is also shaped by international agreements such as the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs Agreement) and the Patent Law Treaty (PLT). TRIPS redirects here For the new microprocessor design see TRIPS architecture.

Contents 1 Types of patent protection in Europe 1.1 European patents 1.2 National patents 1.3 Utility models 2 Differences and similarities between national laws 3 Community patent 4 Forum shopping, the Brussels Regime and cross-border injunctions 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

Types of patent protection in Europe

A characteristic of European patent law as it stands today is that European patents granted by the European Patent Office (EPO), and patents and utility models ^[3] granted by national patent offices are available and may co-exist within a given jurisdiction. A utility model is an Intellectual property right to protect Inventions This right is available in a number of national Legislations such as Argentina

European patents

Main article: European Patent Convention

A European patent is the product of a unified prosecution phase before the European Patent Office (EPO) under procedures established by the European Patent Convention (EPC). The Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention (EPC is a multilateral Treaty The grant procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO is an Ex parte, administrative procedure which includes the filing of a European Patent applications The Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention (EPC is a multilateral Treaty A European patent is a regional, non-unitary patent. Some EPC Contracting States require the patentee to file a full translation of the granted European patent with the national patent office of the State if the text of the European patent as granted is not in one of their official languages. A patent office is a Governmental or Intergovernmental organization which controls the issue of Patents List of patent offices For a If the required translation is not filed, the European patent is deemed to have no effect from the outset in that State. ^[4] The London Agreement, which entered into force on May 1, 2008, significantly reduces the number of required translations. The London

The European patent can be revoked under the laws of a Contracting State on certain grounds (specified in EPC Articles 138 and 139) with effect only in that State. A central time-limited opposition procedure and central limitation and revocation procedures before the EPO are available however. The opposition procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO is a post-grant, contentious Inter partes, administrative procedure intended In European patent law, the limitation and revocation procedures before the European Patent Office (EPO are post-grant Ex parte, administrative The opposition procedure allows a third party, i. e. any person except the patent proprietor, to oppose a granted European patent in an attempt to have the EPO reconsider the grant of the patent and possibly revoke or amend the patent. The opposition procedure may only be initiated within nine months of the grant of the European patent. ^[5] The limitation and revocation procedures allow the patent proprietor to centrally request the limitation or revocation of his own European patent.

National patents

National patents are available in all European countries. In some European countries, national patents are substantively examined, while in other countries there is no provision for such examination.

In the United Kingdom, for example, the Patents Act 1977 and the Patents Act 2004 establish the law relating to patents including filing, examination, grant, infringement, revocation, assignment. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Patent infringement is the act of utilizing a patented Invention without permission from the Patent holder UK law is in many ways similar to the European Patent Convention (EPC) (although the EPC deals with very few post-grant activities).

Utility models

In Europe, utility models are available in Austria (Gebrauchsmuster), France ("certificat d'utilité"), Germany (Gebrauchsmuster), and Spain (this list is however non-exhaustive). A utility model is an Intellectual property right to protect Inventions This right is available in a number of national Legislations such as Argentina Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich In German and Austrian Patent Laws the Gebrauchsmuster (GebrM also known as German utility model or Austrian utility This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. In German and Austrian Patent Laws the Gebrauchsmuster (GebrM also known as German utility model or Austrian utility Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The term of a utility model is usually shorter than the term of a patent.

Differences and similarities between national laws

Substantive patent law has been harmonized to a certain extent across national laws in Europe, notably upon signature of the Strasbourg Convention of 1963 and the European Patent Convention (EPC) of 1973, and upon entry into force of the TRIPs Agreement. In practice however, the interpretation of common substantive provisions have led to different interpretations in different European countries.

Regarding procedural law, and especially regarding the procedures to examine infringement and validity of patents before national courts, significant differences exist across national laws. For instance, while in Germany validity and infringement of patents are examined by different courts in different procedures, in the United Kingdom the same court is in charge of examining validity and infringement actions. According to Mr Justice Kitchin, a British judge,

". Sir David James Tyson Kitchin (born 30 April 1955 styled The Hon Mr Justice Kitchin, is a Judge of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales appointed to that . . it is desirable to try infringement and validity issues together, where at all possible. If they are tried separately it is all too easy for the patentee to argue for a narrow interpretation of his claim when defending it but an expansive interpretation when asserting infringement. Patent claims are usually in the form of a series of specified elements and corresponding limitations or more precisely Noun phrases following the description portion of the " ^[6]

In this respect, Lord Justice Jacob referred to a comparison reportedly made by Professor Mario Franzosi between a patentee and an Angora cat:

"When validity is challenged, the patentee says his patent is very small: the cat with its fur smoothed down, cuddly and sleepy. Sir Robert Raphael Hayim "Robin" Jacob (born 26 April 1941) styled The Rt Hon The Turkish Angora (Ankara Kedisi is a breed of domestic Cat. But when the patentee goes on the attack, the fur bristles, the cat is twice the size with teeth bared and eyes ablaze. " ^[7]

Community patent

The creation of a community patent system, which would lead to a single unitary patent, has been debated since the 1970s, but those debates have yet to reach agreement on the institution of such a system. The Community patent, also known as the European Community Patent or EC patent and sometimes abbreviated as COMPAT, is a Patent law measure This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The principal problems facing such a system are centered around the language of granted patents and which courts would have jurisdiction. Other legal agreements have been proposed outside the European Union legal framework to reduce the cost of translation (of patents when granted) and litigation, namely the London Agreement and the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA). Translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text likewise called a " translation In law a lawsuit is a civil action brought before a Court in which the party commencing the action the Plaintiff, seeks a legal or equitable remedy The London

Forum shopping, the Brussels Regime and cross-border injunctions

Main articles: Brussels Regime and cross-border injunctions

References

Patent law
History of patent law Economics and patents Patent prosecution Patent application Patentability Patent infringement Licensing European patent law Japanese patent law United States patent law List of patent legal concepts
More patent law articles…
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See also

• European Union patent law
• Enforcement of European patents
• Brussels Regime, i. European Union patent law is a subset of European patent law. European patents are granted by the European Patent Office (EPO under the legal provisions of the European Patent Convention (EPC The Brussels Regime is a set of rules regulating the allocation of jurisdiction in international legal disputes of a civil or commercial nature involving e. Brussels Convention, the Lugano Convention, and the Brussels I Regulation (Council Reg (EC) 44/2001)
• Cross-border injunction
• European trade mark law
• Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC)
• Intellectual property in Romania

External links

• Patent Litigation in Europe 2005 report by Lovells comparing patent litigation before various EU national courts, and the differences between them. In European law, and especially in European Intellectual property law a cross-border injunction is an Injunction by a Court in one European European trade mark law is governed by national law in the countries which make up Europe, together with European Law within those European countries which are also The Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC is an international patent law Treaty instituting the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO Intellectual property law in Romania has developed significantly in the period since the Romanian Revolution of 1989 because of the need to enforce various regional and Lovells is a London -based international Law firm with over 300 partners and around 3200 employees operating from 26 offices in Europe,

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