Several recent developments as to the new patent system that will be put into place in Europe in the next couple of years make it timely to update earlier articles in this series on this subject and to provide a progress report on it. On 5 May 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union rejected the legal challenges to one aspect of the new system, the European patent with unitary effect, mounted by Spain, and earlier in 2015 proposals as to the fee structure for this new type of European patent were issued by the European Patent Office. Preparations continue with establishing the other aspect of the new system, the Unified Patent Court, in which litigation on the European patent with unitary effect and also, subject to transitional provisions, classical European patents, will take place. A significant recent development as to the Unified Patent Court has been the publication for consultation, by the Preparatory Committee, on 8 May 2015, of a proposal for its fee structure.
Originally published in the Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, May 2015
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