Date: 2018
Type: Article
The unified patent court as part of a new European patent landscape : wholesale harmonization or experiment in legal pluralism?
European review of private law, 2018, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 97-117
DIJKMAN, Léon Edward, VAN PADDENBURGH, Cato, The unified patent court as part of a new European patent landscape : wholesale harmonization or experiment in legal pluralism?, European review of private law, 2018, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 97-117
- https://hdl.handle.net/1814/60585
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
The European field of intellectual property law is on the brink of exciting changes as the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the European Patent with unitary effect may soon see the light of day. This will have significant consequences for the protection of technological innovations that patents provide. This article offers an introductory overview to the envisaged European patent landscape. The desire for harmonization in patent law is nothing new but prior attempts were unsuccessful: as a result, the current regime is characterized by fragmentation. The article gives a high-level explanation of this regime and the proposed changes that the advent of the UPC would entail. The authors also address recent challenges facing the new patent regime, which make it difficult to predict when the proposed changes will take effect. Assuming these hurdles can be overcome, the UPC and the European Patent with unitary effect offer a fascinating experiment in legal pluralism. This is shown by explaining the roles of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the UPC and national courts in the new patent landscape. These courts will share jurisdiction and will jointly work towards a (truly) harmonized European patent law. The authors conclude that though the new constellation will be complex, European courts have previously shown capable of working together toward legal unification in a pluralist order and that this new attempt in the field of patent law should thus be welcomed.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/60585
ISSN: 0928-9801
Publisher: Kluwer Law International
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