Single European Patent Court proposed to rule on Community Patent

Whilst the Council continues its deliberations on the Community Patent, proposals have been drawn up by the Commission for a Community Patent Court, under the aegis of the European Court of Justice, to allow the resolution of disputes within the future Community Patent system, in particular those about infringements and the validity of Community Patents.

Europe’s companies have been crying out for too long for access to pan-European patent protection at reasonable cost with minimum red-tape and maximum legal certainty.

Member State Ministers failed to reach agreement at the Competitiveness Council on 11 March due to a number of issues related to the translation regime. Despite this setback, the Commission continues to hope that a solution can be achieved allowing the Community Patent Regulation to be adopted. Meanwhile, work on the jurisdiction proposals continues.

Under the proposals, the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice would be exercised by a new Community Patent Court. The new system would mean that judgements over Community Patent rights would be effective throughout the EU, avoiding the expense, inconvenience and confusion that can occur when judgements in several different national courts are required.

The first proposal presented by the Commission would confer on the Court of Justice formal jurisdiction concerning certain disputes over Community Patents, in particular those concerning alleged infringements of patents and challenges to the validity of patents. The second proposal would establish the Community Patent Court, with seven judges appointed by the Council of Ministers, to exercise the Court of Justice’s jurisdiction on its behalf.

It also sets up a specialised chamber within the Court of First Instance to hear appeals against the Community Patent Court’s judgements. In exceptional cases, a decision of the Court of First Instance could be subject to review by the Court of Justice.

Current system expensive and slow

Under the current system, disputes on national patents or on European Patents granted by the European Patent Office with effect for individual Member States, are decided by the courts of the respective Member States. This means that stopping an action for infringement of a patent or contesting the validity of a patent may require bringing actions in a number of Member States, with all the difficulties and expense this entaild. It is also possible that courts in different Member States may interpret patent law differently and reach incompatible verdicts.

To provide a less wasteful and costly system, the Community Patent Court would operate according to a single set of procedural rules, with a uniform case law and with costs affordable for users and in particular for SMEs. Thus, the jurisdiction regime proposed would ensure that disputes over Community Patent rights were judged with EU-wide effect by a single centralised and specialised court. This would provide legal certainty for the protection of inventions throughout the Union.

The creation of the Community Patent system, aims to make it cheaper and easier to protect new inventions in all EU Member States, with a single procedure. It will thus remove a competitive handicap suffered by Europe’s innovators and stimulate investment in research and development.

Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said: “To maximise the benefits of the Community Patent, we need a single Community Patent Court, under the ultimate jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, so that disputes are judged with EU-wide effect.”