Developing a Common Patent System – Lessons to Be Learnt from the European Experience
Published as: Developing a Common Patent System: Lessons to Be Learned from the European Experience, pp. 254-290, in E. Siew-Kuan Ng, G. W. Austin (eds), International Intellectual Property and the ASEAN Way. Pathways to Interoperability, © Cambridge University Press 2017, reproduced with permission
Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper No. 18-09
43 Pages Posted: 26 Jun 2018
Date Written: June 26, 2018
Abstract
The article analyses reasons for establishing a regional patent system and ways of achieving this aim. Based on proposals elaborated in Europe since 1949, it differentiates models for pooling together the power to grant and protect patents according to their purpose and effect on national sovereignty. The article suggests that where the states of a particular region are not ready to accept a fully unified patent system, as is apparently the case with the members of ASEAN, the establishment of a regional patent office can still be a viable option. On the one hand, regional offices allow the participating states to create economies of scale without limiting significantly their freedom in pursuing national policies. On the other hand, regional offices can provide the infrastructure and the expertise required to develop an independent examination practice and standard of patentability in the region concerned.
Keywords: Unitary Patent, Unified Patent Court, European Patent Convention, ASEAN, Regional Patent, Regionalism in Patent Law
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation