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On Tuesday May 5th, 2015, the Court of Justice of European Union has validated regulations on the unitary patent. This site is left open for archive purpose but isn't updated anymore.

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On April 13th 2011, the European Commission has proposed a “regulation implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection”, that has now to be voted by the European Parliament and the Council of European Union.

This regulation is the last step in a series of attempts – that have failed for over sixty years – to set up a common patent valid in all Member States of the European Union (EU).

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Watch this video for a complete overview.

Despite the mandatory auto-congratulating communication from the Commission, the proposal is quite disappointing with regard to the major challenge posed: designing a patent system that would fulfil expectations, namely to efficiently foster innovation in Europe.

This site is an initiative to bring an expertise to the European Parliament in order to get over these drawbacks by improving the regulation and to actually build a democratic innovation policy in Europe. It provides raw materials and tools to any citizen who wants to take part in this process.

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European unitary patent: the Association for the promotion and defense of free software and 400 companies “mobilised against the project”, an AEF news

After the European Parliament has decided, in early July 2012, to postpone its plenary vote on the unitary patent, and hence after that its committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is about to to reconsider the case, AEF, a specialised French press agency, has realeased three news taking stock of the current situation. Courtesy of AEF, we translate here the second news, which recounts an interview of Gerald Sédrati-Dinet, adviser on patents for April, a French advocacy association devoted to promote and protect Free/Libre Software. You can also find an deciphering of the legislative process, and a revelation of a report by Parliament's legal services.

European unitary patent: Parliament's resumption of discussions suspended to the opinion of its legal services, an AEF news

After the European Parliament has decided, in early July 2012, to postpone its plenary vote on the unitary patent, and hence after that its committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) is about to to reconsider the case, AEF, a specialised French press agency, has realeased three news taking stock of the current situation. Courtesy of AEF, we translate here the first news, which deciphers the legislative process. You can also find an interview of Gerald Sédrati-Dinet, adviser on patents for April, a French advocacy association devoted to promote and protect Free/Libre Software, and a revelation of a report by Parliament's legal services.

Companies get involved against software patents and the current proposal for a unitary patent

April offers to companies to publicly declare their opposition to software patents, by signing a resolution asking to the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament to amend the regulation on the unitary patent.

General mobilisation against the return of software patents in Europe

Paris, September 3rd, 2012. Press release.

In the next few days, the legal affairs (JURI) Committee of the European Parliament will discuss on the next actions regarding the project for a unitary patent. Behind what looks like a technical text lies a crucial issue: who decides on what is patentable and what is not.

As software patents are coming back in international news with the Apple/Samsung case, we need to ensure that such aberrations cannot happen in Europe. April calls for a general mobilisation to contact all MEPs, so that the European Parliament finally tackles the issue of the software patentability.

Unitary Patent: European Parliament reinstall a democratic procedure. Let's take a part in this!

On July 10th 2012, the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) of the European Parliament has discussed about the unitary patent and how to proceed forward with the project. Following the postponement of the vote considered in plenary session, the results of the discussions are a strong criticism of the questionable way, to say the least, used by Member States to impose their modifications, along with the decision to discuss again about an hypothetical regulation on the unitary patent in September. With these last moves, the debate on provisions of the text are reopened. April calls Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to improve the text and citizen to rally in order to guarantee that fundamental rights are respected, that a genuine European Union patent is set up, and that software patents are definitively prohibited1.

The European Parliament avoids disaster, but the unitary patent is not saved yet

Paris/Strasbourg, 2012, July 3rd. Press release.

On Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th July 2012, the European parliament was due to debate and vote on the unitary patent. However, MEPs rebelled against the European Council's desire to substantially change the text at the last minute: they were being asked, in essence, to be a simple rubber-stamping assembly. On Monday, 2nd July 2012, they unanimously postponed the vote and sent the text back for reconsideration by the committees1.

Plenary vote postponed

Monday July 2nd, 2012, the European Parliament has postponed the plenary vote of the regulation on the unitary patent, that was foreseen for Wednesday. This postponement comes from the European Council decision to delete articles 6-8 from the regulation, preventing any control from the CJEU. The text is now back in Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) of the European Parliament. Members of JURI should take this opportunity to fix the core of the text, to remove legal uncertainties which are still included, and doing so, to guarantee the integration of the European patent system within th EU legal and institutional framework.

The European Union under the threat of patents, a column by D. Cohn-Bendit and M. Rocard

On July 4th, 2012, while examining the issue of a single European patent, the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will have the opportunity to reaffirm the autonomy of the Union to decide on its innovation policy, warn Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Michel Rocard : “What is at stake is the urgent need for a Europe, which suffers from a growing democratic deficit, to not waive its power for the benefit of a body, the Patent Office in Munich, whose mission is not to act in the best interests of European businesses and citizens.”

Why the European Council has killed any workable EU patent

On Friday June 29th 2012, the European Council has reached an agreement between heads of State and government over a unitary patent and a flanking unified patent court. But, under the pressure of British government, such a deal was done at the expense of removing any overview from the Court of Justice of the European Union over patent law, through the deletion of provisions in the regulation on the unitary patent. But the Union law does not allow for such a move. Therefore the agreement reached by the European Council is doomed to be nullified.

Voting recommendations for July 2012 plenary amendments

We strongly encourage Members of the Parliament to adopt amendments 52 to 67, in particular amendments 52, 53 and 54, which bring a legal certainty to the regulation and fix the political issue of the governance of the European patent system, and amendment 57 which would clearly exclude software from patentability. In the event these amendments are not adopted, we recommend to reject the proposal.