Unified Patent Court Comes One Step Closer
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 such but they