European Patent Court Established After more than 30 years of negotiations, on June 29, the Europea

European Patent Court Established
After more than 30 years of negotiations, on June 29, the European Union (EU) finally reached an agreement to establish a new patent court with a goal of less expensive, simpler and more efficient patent litigation in the EU. The EU patent court headquarters will be in Paris, France, with Munich, Germany, as the designated court to handle patents related to engineering, while London, England, will handle patents related to the pharmaceutical industry and life sciences.

Under a single EU patent litigation system, it will be possible to resolve disputes across Europe through a single court system. The Unified Patent Court will have exclusive jurisdiction for cases regarding the infringement or validity of a European unitary patent. The single EU patent court aims to eliminate the chance of multiple patent lawsuits involving the same patent in different EU countries, and the risk that court rulings on the same patent might differ from one EU country to another.

Despite this long-awaited breakthrough in European patent litigation, potential challenges remain. The complexity of the new system may encourage a wave of patent infringement actions brought in Europe by patent trolls and non-practicing entities. Critics also argue that judges with minimal patent experience may cause long delays in hearing cases that could threaten the effectiveness of the new EU patent court.

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Patent laws did not take a summer vacation with the USPTO, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the European Union all announcing sweeping changes. The winds of change will continue to impact patents in the coming months as patent reform is fully implemented and the Supreme Court announces major decisions on patents. Medtech companies must adopt proactive patent strategies to protect their innovations as patent law heats up.