Recent Articles

New Developments: European Patent With Unitary Effect, EU Patent Jurisdiction

Axel H. Horns
May 29, 2011 16:36

Under the date of May 26, 2011, the EU Council has published Document 10629/11 titled Proposal for a Regulation of the Council and the European Parliament implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection including a Proposal for a Council Regulation...

Some Preliminary Remarks On COM(2011) 287 Provisional

Axel H. Horns
May 24, 2011 16:53

Galaxy of IP rights ... as seen by EU CommissionToday the EU Commission has published a provisional version of Document COM(2011) 287 titled Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a...

OHIM Set To Become Official Host For European Observatory On Counterfeiting And Piracy

Axel H. Horns
May 24, 2011 15:33

OHIM, Alicante (soon to be augmented into an enforcement agency)Today, the EU Commission has published a Proposal for a Regulation of the European parliament and the Council on entrusting the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) with certain tasks related to the...

EU Commission: A Burst Of Activity Concerning Intellectual Property Politics

Axel H. Horns
May 24, 2011 14:14

Today, the EU Commission has adopted a strategy intended to to revamp the legal framework in which Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) operate.See also this Draft here. The IPR Strategy sets out a series of short- and long-term key policy actions in various areas which include: Patents: the...

Will There Be A "Virtual Schengen Border" Justified By Intellectual Property Enforcement?

Axel H. Horns
May 19, 2011 10:17

Michel Barnier, EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Mr Michel Barnier is EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services. The Commission department under his political responsibility is the Internal Market and Services Directorate General (DG MARKT). The Office for Harmonisation in...

UK: Hargreaves Review on Intellectual Property And Growth Released Today

Axel H. Horns
May 18, 2011 10:47

On November 10, 2010, Official announcement had been made to the effect that Professor Ian Hargreaves shall lead an independent review into how the intellectual property system in the United Kingdom can better drive growth and innovation. UK Intellectual Property Minister Baroness Wilcox had...

EU Patent Is Dead! Long Live "European Patent With Unitary Effect."

Axel H. Horns
April 14, 2011 19:05

Recently, the European Commission has published Document COM(2011) 215/3 titled Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection. Council Decision 2011/167/EU (March 22, 2011 -...

EU Patent: The Smallest Of All Perceivable Solutions Is Coming

Axel H. Horns
March 10, 2011 15:59

The dice is cast: Yesterday, the Court of Justice of the EU issued a damning verdict to pending plans for creating a new trans-EU Patent Court on the basis of an international agreement. Today, the EU Council has nodded through a license for 25 of 27 EU Member States (i.e all Member States except...

The Court Of Justice Of The EU Kills Patent Court Proposal.

Axel H. Horns
March 09, 2011 15:06

In an earlier posting I had reported on the  Opinion 01/09 - Statement by the Advocates General of the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning the European Patent and the Community Patent Court as planned by the EU Council; see my earlier postings here, there and there. The date on that...

EPO Publishing Something Like A "White Paper" In Exchange For Personal Data

Axel H. Horns
February 01, 2011 16:21

Today, the European Patent Office (EPO) has made available a second edition of An overview of the national patent litigation systems in Europe available for download on-line. The text provides an overview of the national patent litigation systems across the European Patent Organisation's 38...