EU Patent Reform: Prof. Tilmann, the old Roman god Janus and the requirements of Article 118(1) TFEU,
Article on recent developments in relation to Spain’s actions against the “unitary patent” Regulations at the European Court of Justice (Published on 22/05/2014)
While the preparations for implementing the “unitary patent package” are advancing, intensive efforts are made to convince the users of the new system. However, risks remain. Apart from numerous European patents being opted-out of the new system, problems could also be caused by the Spanish nullity actions against the Regulations on the “unitary patent” and the respective language regime which are pending at the European Court of Justice. At the beginning of 2014, Prof. Winfried Tilmann, one of the forerunners of the “unitary patent” system, has commented on these actions in a very unusual manner. This statement, which, as it seems, has at least been supported by the German Federal Ministry of Justice, and the view he presented on the requirements of the legal basis for the “unitary patent” Regulation, Article 118(1) TFEU, will be the subject of this article.
- Download English version (article of 22/05/2014, redacted version of 25/09/2014, PDF)
- Download German version (article of 22/05/2014, redacted version of 25/09/2014, PDF)
Resources:
- Link to the article “When unity creates division: A Kat patent recap” on the IPKat blog
- Excerpts from the e-mail correspondence with the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Prof. Tilmann re his article in EIPR 2014, 4 ff. (English [translation] or German [original], PDF)
- Letter from Hogan Lovells of 12/04/2012 to the European Scrutiny Committee of the UK House of Commons (via IPKat Blog)
- Excerpts from the e-mail correspondence with the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Prof. Tilmann re his work as an advisor (English [translation] or German [original], PDF)
- Link to the video recording of the Legal Affairs Committee meeting on 05/11/2013
- Verbatim protocol of the Legal Affairs Committee meeting on 05/11/2013 (English version, PDF)
- Verbatim protocol of the Legal Affairs Committee meeting on 05/11/2013 (German version, PDF)
- Verbatim protocol of the Legal Affairs Committee meeting on 05/11/2013 (Original languages, PDF)
- Article of Prof. Winfried Tilmann, “The Battle about Articles 6–8 of the Union-Patent-Regulation”:
- Link to the video recording of the Legal Affairs Committee meeting on 11/10/2012
- Link to the video recording of the Legal Affairs Committee meeting on 26/11/2012
- Audio recording of the meeting on 19/11/2012 (speeches in their respective original language, mp3, 19.8 MB)
- The Parliamentary History of the European “Unitary Patent”, Verbatim protocol of the public meetings in the European Parliament and its Legal Affairs Committee (German/original language and English/original language)
- Link to document SJ-0462/12, Legal Opinion by the Legal Service of the EU Parliament on the deletion of Art. 6 to 8 (PDF)
- Comment by Wouter Pors (Bird & Bird, The Hague) on the IPKat Blog on 27/05/2014 (Scroll to the bottom of the page)
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