Intellectual Property

This post originally appeared on our sister blog, InsideTechMedia.  

After more than 40 years of discussions, the European Parliament today voted in favour of the “EU patent package,” hot on the heels of the European Council’s approval yesterday.  The EU patent package will create a Unitary EU Patent i.e. a uniform patent which will have equal effect and will be granted, transferred and enforced in a unitary way in most of Europe.  Unitary EU Patents will be granted through the existing European Patent Office, but a new court system will be set up to enforce these patents.

The Unitary EU Patent will, in time, replace the current system of European Patents which – after grant – operate as independent national patents in up to 38 countries.
Continue Reading A Unitary Patent for Europe is Finally Approved

Article originally published in PLC Life Sciences Handbook 2009/2010

Many life science companies rely on their employees’ inventiveness to fuel their research and development (R&D) efforts and generate patents. The most successful inventions can generate billions of euros of sales annually. In some circumstances, the employees who created the patentable…
Continue Reading Employee’s Rights to Compensation for Inventions – a European Perspective

Article originally published in Concurrences, N° 3-2009 (September 2009)

PROCEED WITH CAUTION ACROSS THE IP/COMPETITION INTERSECTION

DG Competition’s release of its long-awaited Final Report on its Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry on 8 July 2009 was somewhat of a damp squib compared to the fireworks surrounding the publication of its Interim Report…
Continue Reading The Outcome of the EC Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry

Article originally published in Global Competition Policy, February 2009 

The release of DG Competition’s Preliminary Report on its Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry on November 28, 2008 was a Brussels media event, with press briefings, press releases, and an all-day public hearing that was covered by the Commission’s live television channel.1 …

Continue Reading DG Competition’s Preliminary Report on the Pharma Sector Inquiry: A Need for Clear Signals at the IP/Competition Intersection