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The draft European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA), or formally the Draft Agreement on the establishment of a European patent litigation system, is a proposed patent law agreement aimed at creating an "optional protocol to the European Patent Convention (EPC) which would commit its signatory states to an integrated judicial system, including uniform rules of procedure and a common appeal court" [1] (http://patlaw-reform.european-patent-office.org/epla/). In 1999, a Working Party on Litigation was set up by member states of the European Patent Organisation to propose an optional agreement on the creation of such a central judicial system. At its fifth meeting on 19 and 20 November 2003, the Working Party came up with a draft agreement and a draft statute for the European Patent Court. If the agreement enters into force, this would roughly create a European equivalent to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or applicant for a limited amount of time (normally maximum 20 years from the filing date, depending on extension). ...
Law (a loanword from Danish- Norwegian lov), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments for those who do not follow...
The European Patent Convention (EPC) or Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973 is a legal text instituting the European Patent Organisation and the system according to which European patents are granted. ...
1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...
The European Patent Organisation (EPO or EPOrg in order to distinguish it from the European Patent Office, which is the main organ of the organisation) is an international organisation set up by the European Patent Convention. ...
November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ...
World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States Court of International Trade, as well as Article II tribunals such as the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, the...
Currently, once granted, a European patent is enforceable in a country-by-country basis ("Any infringement of a European patent shall be dealt with by national law." Art. 64(3) EPC). In addition, once the 9-month opposition period is terminated, third parties wanting to invalidate a European patent must institute revocation proceedings in each country where the patent is in force. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The opposition procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO) is a post-grant inter partes procedure intended to allow any European patent to be centrally opposed if it was wrongly granted. ...
This situation leads to high litigation and revocation costs for patent holders and third parties, to legal uncertainty (a European patent may be revoked in United Kingdom while upheld in Germany), cross-border injunctions and forum shopping (selecting the most favorable national court to institute litigation). This reduces the incentives to apply for a European patent and, many argues, the situation is a burden on the competitiveness of the European economy, compared to the situation in the United States (see also EU's Lisbon Strategy). The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the European Union, and NATO. Usually known simply as the United Kingdom, the UK, or (inaccurately) as Great Britain or Britain, the UK has four constituent...
The Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is one of the worlds leading industrialised countries, located in the heart of Europe. ...
Forum shopping is the informal name given to the practice of attempting to get a case heard in the court thought most likely to provide a decision favorable to a plaintiff. ...
The economy of Europe is comprised of more than 665 million people in 48 different states. ...
The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ...
The Lisbon Strategy, also known as the Lisbon Agenda or Lisbon Process, is an action and development plan for the European Union. ...
Legal provisions
The 2003 draft agreement provides the creation of a "European Patent Judiciary (EPJ)", a financially autonomous organisation, comprising: - a "European Patent Court" competent to decide on infringement relating to European patents and including a "European Patent Court of Appeal"; and
- an "Administrative Committee".
Competence problems It is not clear yet whether the countries which are members of the European Union have the competence to institute such a system or whether the competence is exclusively in the hands of the European Union (see EC Regulation 44/2001 [2] (http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2001/l_012/l_01220010116en00010023.pdf)). The European Union or EU is an intergovernmental organisation of European countries, which currently has 25 member states. ...
France may also have constitutional problems to sign and ratify such a far-reaching agreement. The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ...
An organizations constitution defines its form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules. ...
Sign can denote any of the following: Within a writing system, a sign is a basic unit. ...
Ratification is the process of adopting an international treaty, or a constitution or other nationally binding document (such as an amendment to a constitution) by the agreement of multiple subnational entities. ...
Trivia The agreement was called "European Patent Litigation Protocol" (EPLP) before being renamed "European Patent Litigation Agreement" (EPLA) for reasons of international law [3] (http://www.ige.ch/E/jurinfo/j110201.shtm). International law deals with the relationships between states, or between persons or entities in different states. ...
See also The Community Patent is a patent law measure being debated within the European Union, which would allow individuals and companies to obtain a unitary patent throughout all European Union countries. ...
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