Academiejaar 2012-13 DE TOTSTANDKOMING VAN EEN EUROPEES PATENT/OCTROOIRECHT The European Patent with Unitary Effect: A Gateway to an Innovative and Competitive EU Economy? Masterproef van de opleiding ‘Master in de rechten’ Ingediend door Johannes Cassiman (studentennr: 00806766) Promotor: Inge Govaere Commissaris: Leen Goossens PREFACE The writing of this paper has been challenging to me on many levels. Through many hours of research and contemplation I have gained valuable insights in the European patent system. I hope to put these insights into practice one day. In the spirit of European integration I have chosen to write my master thesis in English. It is the lingua franca of the patent community and the modern global economy at large. I hope that by writing this paper in English, it will have the potential to serve as a source of information for a broad public. For me personally it has definitely been an enrichment to write an academic dissertation in a language other than my native language. I would like to thank my master thesis promoter, prof. Inge Govaere for her inspiring lectures, which have sparked my enthusiasm for European Law, and for her guidance and trust in me. I especially thank my partner Anouck Dolphens for her continuous support and her help and caring when I most needed it. I would also like to thank my friends Laurens Naudts and Mathieu Vancaillie for their pleasant company during our master’s degree. Lastly I would like to thank my mother and father, who both supported me throughout my studies, each in their own ways. Ghent, 10 August 2013. i ii NEDERLANDSTALIGE SAMENVATTING De titel van deze master thesis ‘The European Patent with Unitary Effect: A Gateway to an Innovative and Competitive European Economy?’ kan als volgt vertaald worden: Het Europees octrooi met eenheidswerking: Een weg naar een innovatieve en competitieve economie voor de EU? Dit werk tracht een kritische analyse te brengen van de recentste evoluties in de totstandkoming van een octrooi voor de Europese unie. Het tracht een antwoord te geven op de volgende vragen: Wat is het belang van octrooien voor de economie van de Europese Unie? Hoe functioneert het bestaande systeem voor octrooien binnen de Europese Unie? Hoe presteert het bestaande stelsel voor octrooien in Europa in vergelijking met de systemen voor octrooibescherming in de belangrijkste concurrerende Economieën? Welke obstakels hebben de totstandkoming van een eengemaakte octrooititel voor de EU verhinderd? Wat zal het Octrooipakket brengen voor de werking van het Europese Octrooistelsel? Wat zijn de uitdagingen voor het Octrooipakket? iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... iv List of abbreviations .............................................................................................................................. vii 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 2 The importance of patents for the European Union Economy ........................................................ 5 2.1 Short history of patent protection systems and patent economy ............................................. 5 2.2 The function of patents in market economies .......................................................................... 7 2.2.1 Economic theories of invention protection ...................................................................... 7 2.2.2 Main features of Patents .................................................................................................. 9 2.2.3 Patents as an incentive for R&D? .................................................................................. 10 2.3 The importance of unitary patent protection in general EU policy ....................................... 11 2.4 Patents and the Internal Market ............................................................................................. 13 3 Evaluation of the existing patent protection system in Europe ..................................................... 14 3.1 28 National Patents ................................................................................................................ 14 3.2 The bundled “European Patent” (EPC) ................................................................................. 16 3.2.1 The creation of an independent body ............................................................................ 16 3.2.2 The ‘European Patent’: What’s in a name? ................................................................... 19 3.2.3 Obtaining a European patent: From Filing to Grant ...................................................... 20 3.2.4 Language regime ........................................................................................................... 22 3.2.5 Harmonization of substantive law ................................................................................. 25 3.2.6 The Post-Grant Phase .................................................................................................... 26 3.3 Costs related to patenting ...................................................................................................... 28 3.4 Preliminary conclusion .......................................................................................................... 29 4 Comparison with major competing patent systems ....................................................................... 31 4.1 Three Competing Patent Systems .......................................................................................... 31 4.2 Key facts and figures ............................................................................................................. 31 4.3 Preliminary conclusion .......................................................................................................... 35 iv 5 Evaluation of past initiatives for a Community/Union patent ....................................................... 36 5.1 The division of European Patent law between the EPC and the Community Patent Convention ........................................................................................................................................ 36 5.2 The repeated failure of the Luxembourg CPC (1975, 1989) ................................................. 38 5.3 Failure of the “Agreement relating to Community patents” (1989) ...................................... 40 5.4 The Community Patent regulation proposal (CPR) (2000) ................................................... 42 5.5 Parallel efforts under the auspices of the European Patent Organisation .............................. 45 5.5.1 The EPLA ...................................................................................................................... 46 5.5.2 The London Agreement ................................................................................................. 47 6 The European patent having unitary effect.................................................................................... 48 6.1 Political evolutions towards the ‘Unitary Patent Package’ ................................................... 48 6.2 Legal Basis: Article 118 TFEU ............................................................................................. 51 6.3 Introduction to the enhanced cooperation mechanism .......................................................... 52 6.4 Council decision authorising enhanced cooperation ............................................................. 54 6.5 The Unitary Patent Package .................................................................................................. 55 6.5.1 The unitary patent regulation ......................................................................................... 57 6.5.2 The translation arrangements regulation ....................................................................... 61 6.5.3 Agreement on the Unified Patent Court ........................................................................ 64 6.6 Cost reductions introduced by the Unitary Patent Package ................................................... 67 6.7 Preliminary conclusion .......................................................................................................... 69 7 Challenges to the European patent with unitary patent ................................................................. 69 7.1 Legal Challenges ................................................................................................................... 69 7.1.1 Compatibility with EU law ............................................................................................ 69 7.1.2 Ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement ..................................................... 71 8 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 72 9 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 77 9.1 Treaties .................................................................................................................................. 77 9.2 EU Legal Acts ....................................................................................................................... 78 9.3 European Commission documents .......................................................................................