Single Patent System and Patent Court in the European Union Pushed

The European Council (“EU”) has agreed to adopt a sweeping regulatory package that establishes a single patent system that includes a new patent court in the European Union.

The Council agreement encompasses the main features of a future patent court in the EU.  According to the EU Council, a specialized patent court will allow cases to be heard before judges with the highest level of legal and technical expertise in patents. A unified court will also mean that parties do not have to litigate in parallel in different countries incurring high costs. Parallel litigation can amount at least €500 000 in a typical case, which can be cut drastically by a unified court, saving as much as €289 million each year for European companies, the EU Council explained.

The court will include local and central chambers under a common appeal court. In the initial stages, parties will be able to continue to use national courts, allowing confidence to build up gradually in the new system, the EU Council added.

After this political agreement, the EU Council will now wait for a legal opinion on the new patent court from the European Court of Justice.

Ministers have also agreed to adopt an approach on an EU Patent Regulation. The Regulation was originally proposed by the European Commission in 2000 under the Lisbon strategy but negotiations stalled in 2004. The creation of an EU Patent would help to improve the current situation where a patent designating only 13 EU Member States is already 11 times more expensive than a US patent, the EU Council observed. However, the creation of the EU patent will depend on a solution to be found for the translation arrangements which will be subject of a separate Regulation. A common understanding has also been reached on renewal fees and the cooperation between patent offices.

Renewal fees will be set at a level to facilitate European innovation and foster competitiveness. Furthermore, the EU patent will involve partnerships between patent offices in Europe to allow synergies to be created to bring about more rapid delivery of patents and increase speed of access to market for innovative products and services. The European Parliament will now have the opportunity to debate the EU Patent Regulation.

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