European Patent Litigation Agreement


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European Patent Litigation Agreement
	The EPLA or the European Patent Litigation Agreement is a patent law agreement that aims at controlling the patent related legal issues to one single court-the European Patent Court. The requirement for the lawsuits that is filed pertaining to a patent issue in a number of courts as directed by the norms of the patent grant council poses a lot of problems. According to the principles laid down by the EPLA this confusing array of courts can be centralized to one single court of law.
The development of European Patent Litigation Agreement According to the European patent law that is enforceable once a patent is granted then the subsequent proceeding which includes renewal, revocation and infringement all comes under the law of the respective country. After the termination of the opposition period of 9 months the third parties who want to challenge the patent must do so at each of the country courts where the patent has been granted. This lead to filing of associated papers and documents at each of the national courts and following the different laws that are applicable in each country. This lead to the conceptualization of the European Patent Litigation Agreement. In fact in 2006 the European Commission (EC) held a public conference where the main topic of discussion was the EPLA. That same year the commissioner of EC was quoted as saying that the prospects of levying a uniform set of rules for patent related issues throughout the continent was indeed profitable. This would ensure that the rules and laws faced by patent holders were same mo matter where the patent is applicable. The reasons for protests against the EPLA The Litigation Agreement faced a lot of protests as some EC treaty protocol was being violated by the European Patent Litigation Agreement. At the 2006 Parliament of Europe it was suggested that the EPLA be amended, The articles of democracy, judicial and the litigation costs needed to be revised. In fact the Legal Service was asked to evaluate the terms cited in the agreement to rule out possibilities of any overlap with the acquis communautaire. The latter is the body of European Union law that has been enforced so far. Later in the year the proposal for a European patent Court of law was discussed as per the proposal forwarded by the The Litigation Agreement faced a lot of protests as some EC treaty protocol was being violated by the European Patent Litigation Agreement. In the next year the Legal Service presented its report on the possibility of the EPLA clashing with any of the existing laws of the EU. The report stated that the EPLA if passed would breach one of the clauses of the EC Treaty. This practically sealed the closure of the EPLA and it remains to be seen what the final verdict would be. Thus though a advantageous and convenient proposal the European Patent Litigation Agreement remains under the cloud of speculation. The formation of a patent court in Europe which will handle only the patent related issues would have reduced the hassles of the legal technicalities that needed to be fulfilled by the concerned parties. For information About Patents visit patentshub.com.