Enhanced cooperation on the unified patent: today's ruling

The Court of Justice of the European Union today has dismissed the actions brought by Spain and Italy against the Council’s decision authorising enhanced cooperation in the area of the single European patent. The enhanced cooperation procedure led to the creation of the EU's new unified patent system -- which will not come into operation until after the implementation of a parallel scheme for the unitary patent court.

Press release in today's decision here
Full text of Case C-274/11 here
Annsley Merelle Ward's IPKat post here

Unitary patent "would advantage the English, French and Germans"

"The EU Embraces Enhanced Cooperation in Patent Matters: Towards a Unitary Patent Protection System" is a recent article by Enrico Bonadio (City University London; The City Law School of City University, London). It has been published in issue 3/2011 of the European Journal of Risk Regulation and is now available in full on SSRN here. According to Enrico's abstract:

"On 13 April 2011 the Commission tabled a package of two legislative proposals implementing enhanced cooperation in the field of unitary patent protection and translation arrangements. Such proposals were subsequently agreed upon by the EU ministers in an Extraordinary Competitiveness Council on 27 June 2011. 

The objective of this regulatory move is to offer innovators in Europe a unique patent right which can only be transferred, licensed, revoked or may lapse in all the Member States which participate in the enhanced cooperation. 

However, Spain and Italy have chosen to remain outside the enhanced cooperation system and challenged before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) the Council Decision of 10 March 2011 authorizing such cooperation. They point out inter alia that the envisaged system would advantage applicants coming from EU English, French or German speaking countries".

Readers are invited to peruse Enrico's piece, which is a refreshingly brief five sides of pdf, and let PatLit (and Enrico) know what they think of it.