European Union Patents: A Mission Impossible? An Assessment of the Historical and Current Approaches
Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review (International Intellectual Property Scholars Series), Vol. 17, p. 231, 2013, Forthcoming
33 Pages Posted: 8 Oct 2012 Last revised: 23 Jun 2013
Date Written: March 10, 2013
Abstract
One of the hottest issues on Patent Law in Europe is the project to establish a “unique” patent for the whole European Union. Although its introduction would lead to unquestionable benefits in terms of efficiency and legal certainty, the project has run into many political and legal obstacles since it started in the 70’s of the last century. In this paper, we succinctly explain the different proposals that during these forty years have been presented to reach this goal and highlight the main problems arising from the latest approach.
Keywords: Patent, Community Patent, Unitary Patent, EU Patent, European Patent, European Patent Convention, European Patent Office, European Union, Opinion 1/09, Enhanced Cooperation Procedure
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation