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BLOG@IP::JURPatent Attorney Axel H Horns' Blog on Intellectual Property Law.
Friday, November 28, 2003Dim prospects for European Patent Litigation Agreement EPLA.According to a Status Report published on the web site of the Swiss PTO called "Institut für Geistiges Eigentum" ("IGE"), the Working Party on Litigation met November 19-20, 2003 for the 5th time with the intention of resolving the as yet undecided points in the Draft Agreement on the establishment of a European patent litigation system (European Patent Litigation Agreement; EPLA) and the Draft statute of the European Patent Court, which were finalized by the sub-group, before convening a ministerial conference. They were successful on minor points, but, in particular, the general reticence among various countries regarding the financing of the court is still an obstacle.
Moreover, according to said Status Report, the issue of whether EU Member States are competent to negotiate on their own behalf because of EC Regulation 44/2001 (Brussels Regulation I) was also left unresolved. This problem, among others, led the EU Member States to see no possibility to convene a ministerial conference next year.
Again according to said Status Report, the Swiss Delegation subsequently drew attention to the analogous situation for potential conflicts between the future EC regulation on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations ("Rom II"; Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council of 22.7.2003; COM (2003) 427 final; 2003/0168 (COD)) and the EPLA and suggested that the EU Member States try to find a solution that will prevent future problems of this kind.
As another obstacle to a ministerial conference, the EU Member States noted the development of the Community Patent and its own court system. The Working Party on Litigation has closed with a declaration saying it will meet again after the meeting of the Administrative Council of the EPO on December 8, 2004 to reevaluate the situation. Until this meeting, consultations should be made to eliminate potential conflicts between Community law and the European patent litigation system.
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