Posted by ipeg on March 8th, 2011
On March 8, 2011 the highest EU Court, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave its ruling on the draft EU Patent Court or EEUPC. It does not look good at all, as the court concludes:
“The envisaged agreement creating a unified patent litigation system (currently called ‘European and Community Patents Court’) is not compatible with the provisions of the EU Treaty and the FEU Treaty”.
This is worse than anyone could have thought. It seems that a revival of EPLA is the only reasonable option now to come to some unified patent...
Posted by ipeg on February 21st, 2011
It seems like the proper moment to provide an update on where we are with the creation of a single EU patent and how this EU patent, once created, will be dealt with in Court if it comes to infringement or validity challenges. Some recent development indicate that momentum is gaining for the adoption of a unified EU or Unitary Patent and potentially also on litigating EU patents in Europe on the basis of unified rules.
Recent Encouraging Developments
Firstly, last week, the EU’s MEPs agreed on creating a single EU Patent via the...
Posted by ipeg on September 25th, 2010
The struggle to reach a single European Patent Court dominates “patent politics” in 2010 (see our June blog[1]). In September, some 120 patent judges from European Patent Convention states as well as guests from the US and Japan met in Lisbon discussing recent developments in European patent law. Did they brought what is now called the European and EU Patent Court (EEUPC) closer to becoming reality? Apart from the usual niceties and exchanges of good intentions, basically no progress has been made. All judges and attorneys and guests...
Posted by ipeg on September 17th, 2010
Just one year after the German Federal Court (BGH) ruled about the trade mark claims by LEGO for its building bricks, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) in its judgment of this week picks up a similar argument to finally refuse trade mark protection under community trade mark law for the famous LEGO bricks. The shape of the LEGO brick, which gives its characteristic appearance, is only determined by its technical function and thus trade mark protection is not feasible for an absolute ground for refusing (Article 7 (1)...
Posted by ipeg on June 1st, 2010
The creation of a new European Patent System meets some firm opposition and obstacles from various sides. Debates have been going on for decades now whether we should have a EU – or in older terms “Community” – Patent. Presently, the only “European” patents[1] that exists next to “national” patents are those granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich according to the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention...
Posted by ipeg on February 26th, 2010
For several years now, patent holders and trademark owners have successfully been using European Regulation 1383/2003 to ensure that customs authorities in the EU detain or suspend the release of goods suspected of infringing their IP rights. These IP right owners take the view that goods in transit must be considered infringing goods under Regulation 1383/2003 and are thus subject to customs detention and/or subsequent seizure by an IP right owner under national IP laws. These IP right owners base their reasoning on the so-called “manufacturing...
European IP Case Law (IPPT)