EU patent: Enhanced cooperation by 25 underway

摘要

'Enhanced cooperation' with a view to establishing unitary patent protection is officially up and running. The Competitiveness Council gave its green light, on 10 March, despite continued opposition by Italy and Spain and the negative opinion issued by the EU Court of Justice, on 8 March, regarding the patent court. The idea is to create a single patent that will be less costly through a single application procedure that produces effects in all the member states, unlike the existing system governed by an intergovernmental agreement'.