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How does a European patent work and what countries are included in a European patent? H2
A patent is a legal title that grants its holder the right, for a certain period of time and in a specific country, to prevent third parties from exploiting an invention for commercial purposes without authorization.
The European Patent Convention allows any citizen or resident of a Member State of the Union to use a single European procedure for the granting of patents. Once the validation procedure in EU countries has been completed, the holder will acquire the same rights that would be guaranteed by filing a national patent.
A European patent application may be filed by any natural or legal person, as well as by multiple persons jointly.
The European patent granting procedure consists of two main phases:
- Filing and examination of the application. In this phase, all formalities are carried out to verify that the conditions for granting the patent are met.
This phase concludes with the possible granting of the application.
- If the patent is granted, the next step is the validation phase, which takes place in all the States designated by the patent holder, or only in some of them.
If the language of the patent is not an official language of the designated State, a translation must be filed, declared to be consistent with the original, under penalty of invalidity of the patent in that State, within three months from the grant.
If the holder resides abroad, they must be represented by an Italian attorney or elect a domicile in Italy.
It is possible to file an opposition within 9 months from the date of grant of the patent.
What is the life of a patent in EPO?
The European patent, as a legal title that grants its holder the right, in a given country and for a given period of time, to prevent third parties from exploiting an invention for commercial purposes without authorization, is valid for 20 years starting from the filing date of the European application.
European Patent Infringement: What to Do
In the event of a european patent infringement, the actions that may be undertaken, procedurally, are:
- Cognition actions;
- Declaratory actions, positive or negative, regarding the validity of the title or its lapse;
- Actions for authorship and claims of moral rights and economic exploitation rights of the title;
- Declaratory actions, positive or negative, regarding infringement of the title;
- Actions for injunction to stop infringement and for damages compensation;
- Constitutive actions;
- Precautionary actions;
- Enforcement actions.
In a recent ruling, the Court of Justice of the EU established that if an action for infringement of a European patent, valid in one State, is brought in the EU Member State where the defendant resides, the court has cross-border jurisdiction over the infringement, despite the defendant's defensive actions for invalidity being initiated in another State where the patent is valid.
EPO Patent: How Can We Help You?
The international law firm Arnone & Sicomo includes lawyers specialized in the violation of intellectual and industrial property rights. We assist various companies worldwide that have suffered damages due to the unlawful use of their European patent by others.
Our lawyers are constantly updated on the latest European rulings and, whenever possible, seek to mediate between the parties in order to avoid court proceedings.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
