European Patent Package Advantages And Disadvantages

In 2012 the Member States and the European Parliament reached an agreement on a “patent package”, consisting of two Regulations and an international Agreement. The implementation of the patent package made more effective the cooperation between 25 Member States (except from Italy and Spain). In December 2012, the contracting Member States adopted the two Regulations, and signed the international Agreement. Both the Agreement and the Regulations, established the opportunity to obtain a European patent with unitary effect, in all 25 Member States with great cost advantages and less administrative burdens.

2) The advantages of the unitary patent package for the users of the patent system in Europe

While, both the European Union Council

To begin with, the new unitary patent that is going to be created will be protected in all of the 25 participating Member States. As the unitary patent will only be given by the European Patent Office (EPO), it will be available at reasonable costs. Moreover the applications can be filed in any language and there will be no further requirements for the application's completion. Furthermore, the specialised jurisdiction in patent matters that is going to be created for the participating Member States will prevent unnecessary duplication of cases in the courts of the Member States. Furthermore, the patent information will be translated in all languages of the European Union and the translation will be assured through high-quality translation services, available online and free of charge. Finally, the unitary patent will offer cost advantages and less administrative burden. As far as the geographical extension of the patent protection is concerned, it will eventually include all the contracting EU Member States to the EPC. Regarding judicial costs, the UPCA reflects a particular preoccupation with it. In line with Article 40 § 3 UPCA, “the Statute shall guarantee that the functioning of the Court is organized in the most efficient and cost-effective manner and shall ensure equitable access to

On the one hand, the unitary patent will not cover the entire territory of the Internal Market and it is limited to the participating EU Member States in improved collaboration. That means that there is territorial fragmentation. Moreover, this will only work for those Member States that ratify the UPCt Agreement. From the other side, there is substantial separation and as a result, the Unitary Patent Package would create four overlapping levels of patent protection in Europe: (1) national patents granted nationally, (2) national patents granted by the EPO (European patents) within the system of the UPCt Agreement, (3) national patents granted by the EPO, but without subjection to the UPCt (due to transitional opt-out, non-ratification by Member States, or for non-EU States), (4) European patents with unitary effect. The unitary patent package is not balanced, and as a result Imbalances are detected in the scope of jurisdiction. All the above mentioned, would be possible to harm the development of a uniform body of patent law in Europe, fail to establish a fair balance between the rights and remedies available to patentees and third corresponding, and open the system to continue forum shopping by