NIPC Law

When I was called to the Bar in 1977 I spent a lot of time studying the Community Patent Convention which of 1975 because I really thought I would need to know about it. Hélas le temps perdu!. I would have spent the time no less profitably in the Seven Stars.  Forty years on, as they sing at Harrow, there are signs that something close to the original concept of the Community patent is about to become a reality. On 17 Dec 2012 the Council of Europe and the European Parliament adopted two short regulations: Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012 of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 December 2012 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection ; and Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012 of 17 December 2012 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection with regard to the applicable translation arrangements . These regulations do not establish a Community or EU patent as ...

Despite such setbacks as the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the incompatibility of the proposed European Patents Court with EU Law and the objections of the Italian and Spanish governments to an EU patent (see my case note on the CJEU's decision), the European Commission has proposed two regulations for a single European patent for the other 25 member states (see the press release "Commission proposes unitary patent protection to boost research and innovation" 1P/11/470). The first proposed regulation would be for enhanced co-operation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection. The second would be for translation requirements. The combined effect of those regulations would reduce the cost of patenting in the participating member states (which would include the UK, Germany and France) by 80%. Under the proposals applicants could apply to the European Patent Office for a European patent that would designate all the member st...