Patent Litigation Forum Shopping in the EU

Our friends at DLA Piper sent in this article discussing the current European patent system and how unfortunately the goal of consistent interpretation throughout member states is not always achieved.

A granted European patent provides the owner with a bundle of independent, national patent rights for those EU member states in which the patent has been validated. Once the period for the centralized procedure has passed, patents are generally enforced or revoked at a national level. In some national courts (for instance, the UK and the Netherlands), validity and infringement proceedings are commonly heard together, whereas other nations (notably, Germany) have separate courts to determine validity and infringement.

The European Patent Convention provides the central legal framework and sets out the substantive basis for determining ownership, patentability and infringement for European patents. The Protocol to Article 69 of the EPC provides some guidance; however, interpretation of substantive issues is left to the national courts. Although the goal is consistent interpretation throughout member states, individual national courts apply the principles differently. (more…)

04.25.11 | European Patent Office | Stefanie Levine

Europe’s Approach To Patentability Of Business Methods

This post comes courtesy of our friends at DLA Piper, George Godar (Partner in DLA Piper UK’s London office in the Technology, Media and Commercial group) and David Alberti (Partner in DLA Piper’s Silicon Valley office. He  focuses on patent litigation, prosecution and counseling). 

The issues raised in the recent United States Supreme Court Bilski decision are not exclusive to the US. Europe has been considering these issues for years and has still not reached a conclusion accepted by all signatory countries to the European Patent Convention. 

Under the EPC, rules and methods for performing mental acts and doing business, or a program for a computer, are excluded from patent protection if the claims of the patent relate to that thing as such. The European Patent Office (EPO), and national courts, have wrestled with these exclusions. The solutions they have reached may be pragmatic but are not always mutually consistent.   (more…)

11.15.10 | Bilski, European Patent Office, Patent Issues, posts, USPTO | Stefanie Levine