The EU has finally approved the unitary patent after decades
of debate. The system is due to come into force in January 2014 and will enable
a patent to be gained in 25 Member States from one application. Agreement was
finally reached after Advocate General Bot in joined cases C-274/11 and
C-295/11 recommended that the Court of Justice dismiss the action brought by
Spain and Italy amid concerns over language requirements. Applications will
have to be made in English, French or German however the scheme will not apply
to Spain or Italy after both countries opted out. It is expected that the agreement
could cut costs by up to 80% in comparison to applying to each Member State
individually with the hope of increasing the number of patents in the EU. The Unified
Patent Court will be based in Paris with secondary offices in London and
Munich.
I've not followed this at all, but, if true that "the scheme will not apply to Spain or Italy," is it really fair to call the scheme "unified" if cross-EU protection requires three, rather than one, application?
ReplyDeleteIs it possible that a patent might be valid as a Unified patent, but that local Spanish / Italian applications, using exactly the same wording, could be held invalid?
Apparently 24 members signed-up to the third and final element of the European Patent package on 19th February 2013 according to Hogan Lovells. Looks like Italy may have changed its mind as it was a signatory to this element
ReplyDelete