The Future European Patent System: Being Prepared

Dramatic changes to the European patent system are planned for next year or the following year. In particular, there will be a new European patent with unitary effect across, ultimately, 25 EU Member States and a new Unified Patent Court with jurisdiction across all Member States of the EU that have signed up to it.   
 
Towards the end of 2014, Advocate General Bot issued his opinion that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) should dismiss the challenge brought against the system by Spain; the 17th and almost final draft of the rules of the procedure of the new EU Unified Patent Court was published; and an open consultation hearing was held in Trier, Germany to discuss a small number of outstanding issues concerning those rules. It is clear that the new European patent system is going forward. It is a seismic change to the European patent litigation system which will impact global patent enforcement strategy. Parties should start to prepare themselves