All Back to Square One? - An Assessment of the Latest Proposals for a Patent and Court for the Internal Market and Possible Alternatives

Abstract:     
In 2009, when the Council reached a political agreement on the creation of a substantive patent right for the internal market and of a flanking litigation system, the prospects of that project looked brighter than ever before. However, the project has since taken some heavy blows, administered by permanent disagreement in the Council over translation arrangements on the one hand and by a negative ECJ opinion on the court system on the other. The Commission and Council have since been busy to reassemble the leftovers patchwork-style. This article suggests that such an approach might do more harm than good to the project overall and that perhaps one step back should be taken to reconsider the latest proposals and assess alternatives.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 27

Keywords: EU patent, unitary patent, European patent court, EPO, Opinion 1/09, Enhanced Cooperation, EPLA, EEUPC, COPAC

Accepted Paper Series