Community Patent Structure Agreed
The decision is for a unitary court to be responsible for ensuring uniformity of juriprudence.
The European Court of Justice shall have exclusive jurisdiction in actions and claims of invalidity or infringement proceedings as well as proceedings relating to the use of the patent and counterclaims for invalidity.
The litigation of Community patents shall take place before the Community Patent Court (CPC), which will be established by 2010 at the latest. The CPC will be attached to and located at the Court of First Instance of the European Communities. The language for such proceedings would be that of the defendants member state unless the use of another language is requested and agreed by the CPC.
Until the CPC is created, each member state shall designate a number of national courts to be responsible for jurisdiction in the meantime.
The latest agreement also outlines language, costs, national patent office roles and fee distribution.
Patents will be submitted in one of the European Patent Office languages: English, French and German. Non-EPO languages can only be used if accompanied by a translation. Patent recipients will be responsible for filing translations in all official Community languages.
The EPO will maintain a central role in administration, being solely responsible for examination of applications and granting Community Patents. National offices will have a role in advising applicants, forwarding applications, disseminating information and may be able to carry out search work on behalf of EPO.
