Growth companies and procedural safeguards in European patent litigation

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista Rantasaari
Keyword(s):  
Patent Protection ◽  
Patent System ◽  
European Patent ◽  
Court System ◽  
Patent Litigation ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Unified Patent Court ◽  
Procedural Safeguards ◽  
Enforcement Mechanisms ◽  
Unitary Patent

The unitary patent system with the establishment of the Unified Patent Court will lead to unitary patent protection covering most European Union countries. Moreover, it will lead to litigation with the same geographical reach. One potential concern related to increasing litigation is the so-called ‘patent trolls’ (non-practicing entities) that purchase patents for the purpose of portfolio building or company financing. One of the key expressed justifications of the unitary patent system was to support small- and medium-sized enterprises by securing them easier and wider access to patents. The aim of this article is to examine procedural safeguards from the perspective of the start-up and growth companies. These safeguards protect start-up and growth companies when acting as defendants. As a corollary, they weaken the enforcement mechanisms from the perspective of the plaintiff. The safeguards addressed in this article are fee shifting, preliminary injunctions, and bifurcation. As the Unified Patent Court system is still evolving, the current state of European patent litigation in key jurisdiction countries (Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands) is analysed. This article explores how these safeguards evolve in the unitary patent regime and their potential to reduce uncertainty for start-up and growth companies when acting as defendants.

4. Introduction to European Patent Law

2019 ◽  
pp. 99-119
Author(s):  
Justine Pila ◽  
Paul L.C. Torremans
Keyword(s):  
Patent Protection ◽  
Patent Law ◽  
Patent System ◽  
European Patent ◽  
European Law ◽  
European Patent Convention ◽  
Unified Patent Court ◽  
Unitary Patent

This chapter introduces the European law of patents and related rights with a discussion of the nature of patents as limited-term monopoly rights granted in respect of new, inventive, and industrially applicable inventions and the routes to obtaining patent protection in Europe. It then considers the existing European patent system established by the European Patent Convention 1973/2000, including its basis in state-based conceptions of IP territoriality, and the challenges presented to that system by globalization and developing technology. And finally, it discusses the long-standing pursuit of a unitary patent and unified patent court for Europe, including the reasons for each, and the features of the proposed Unitary Patent Package of 2012/2013.

scholarly journals Problematyka wybranych zagadnień jednolitej ochrony patentowej

Radca Prawny ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 191-217
Author(s):  
Tomasz Orfin
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Patent Protection ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
European Patent ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Full Implementation ◽  
Legal Structure ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Unified Patent Court ◽  
Unitary Patent

Problems related to selected issues of unitary patent protection Unitary patent protection is one of the key challenges for the European Union. The current initiatives, which – despite being just a short step away from full implementation due to legal and formal issues, such as the complex legal structure or non-legal claims concerning their negative impact on the economy and competitiveness of enterprises – still raise doubts and uncertainties. The aim of this article is to illustrate the problem of unitary patent protection on selected issues concerning the European patent with unitary effect and the Unified Patent Court. The obstacles that prevent the implementation of the Unified Patent Court are presented. Critical voices assessing the proposed model of unitary patent protection are also presented and discussed.

14. Key elements of the patent system

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian J. Lloyd
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Application ◽  
Patent Protection ◽  
Patent System ◽  
European Patent ◽  
European Patent Convention ◽  
General Terms ◽  
System P ◽  
International Patent ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Unitary Patent

This chapter considers in general terms the nature and manner of operation of the patent system. Topics discussed include international patent protection systems (Patent Co-operation Treaty, European Patent Convention, the unitary patent, and intellectual property in the GATS and WTO); requirements for patentability (novelty, inventive step, capacity for industrial application); matters excluded from patent protection; patenting software; and the process of obtaining and enforcing a patent.

scholarly journals Still Unifying? The Future of the Unified Patent Court

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (9) ◽  
pp. 1143-1160
Author(s):  
Anna Wszołek
Keyword(s):  
Green Light ◽  
European Patent ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Patent Litigation ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Federal Constitutional ◽  
Unified Patent Court ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Unitary Patent

AbstractSince its launching, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) project has faced obstacles and scepticism from some EU Member States. When the United Kingdom ratified the UPC Agreement in 2018, it seemed that there was nothing left but to wait for a positive decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany on the ratification by that country, so that finally the UPC could start its activity. Nevertheless, 2020 brought events that make one look back and reflect on the project itself. The UK withdrew its ratification and the Federal Constitutional Court ruled the German ratification process of the UPC Agreement unconstitutional. Then two new complaints were submitted to the Federal Constitutional Court, which this summer finally gave the green light to the ratification, but it seems the UPC project has already split Europe. The question that arises is whether, in the context of last year’s events and the fracture between the states, the unitary patent system can still be seen as unifying the European patent litigation system. This article discusses the examples of Poland, Hungary and the UK, as countries that refuse to participate in the system due to its interference in their internal legal systems and sovereignty, and other examples of fractures visible in the UPC.

Powers of the Court concerning decisions of the European Patent Office

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Kuczera
Keyword(s):  
Patent Protection ◽  
European Patent Office ◽  
European Patent ◽  
Patent Office ◽  
Article 9 ◽  
Unitary Patent

In actions brought under Article 32(1)(i), the Court may exercise any power entrusted on the European Patent Office in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012, including the rectification of the Register for unitary patent protection.

Administrative tasks in the framework of the European Patent Organisation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winfried Tilmann
Keyword(s):  
Patent Protection ◽  
European Patent ◽  
Member States ◽  
Administrative Tasks ◽  
Unitary Patent

The EPUE Reg is a ‘special agreement’ within the meaning of Art 142(1) EPC (Recital 6; → Introduction to this Commentary, mn 125–34). The participating Member States, as a ‘group of Contracting States’ to the EPC, may therefore ‘give additional tasks’ to the EPO (Art 143(1) EPC). Art 9(1) EPUE Reg sets out which tasks these are and provides that they are to be given to the EPO. They have been given to the EPO by the Rules relating to Unitary Patent Protection (RUPR) (→ Annex following mn 45).

Unified Patent Protection in Europe: A Commentary

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Patent Protection ◽  
Patent Law ◽  
European Patent ◽  
Authoritative Text ◽  
Invaluable Tool ◽  
Unified Patent Court ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Developing Area ◽  
Law Professors ◽  
New System

The creation of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) is the most prominent change in the European legal landscape for the last four decades. This book explains how the new system works in practice and how to make the best use of its provisions. It offers readers an in-depth and comprehensive commentary on the legal mechanisms of the upcoming ratified European Patent Law, and advice on potential problems that users of the forthcoming regulations may face. The book first describes the creation of the Unified European Patent Law and how its four new legislative texts interact. The new legislative texts are then explained and commented on in detail, rule by rule, with diverse approaches and perspectives from a practitioner team comprising patent litigators, European patent attorneys, law professors and patent judges. The Commentary takes into account the practical needs of users of the new system on both the prosecution and enforcement sides, addressing substantive and procedural problems. This book is the most authoritative text on the Unitary Patent and Unified Patents Court, and an invaluable tool for practitioners in this rapidly developing area of law.

The Constitutional Implications of the EU Patent

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Peers
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Patent Protection ◽  
Patent Litigation ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Council Decision ◽  
Unitary Patent ◽  
The Eu

Council Decision of March 2011 to authorize enhanced co-operation as regards unitary patent protection – Proposed Regulations implementing enhanced co-operation in this area – Proposed treaty concerning patent litigation – Challenges to the validity of the decision authorizing enhanced co-operation – Incompatibility of the patent litigation treaty with EU law – EU external competence concerning intellectual property and civil jurisdiction issues

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