22/03/2015

EPO human rights issues and EU patent (litigation) reform: questions and concerns

FOSS Patentsconsiders that, "the EU institutions should take a closer look at the current situation before the EPO starts to grant the EU unitary patent".

There are two key areas of concern:

  • the impact of the future UPC's rules of procedure on the tech industry, particularly companies that have to defend themselves against patents that wouldn't survive an invalidity challenge, and
  • the human rights conflict at the European Patent Office (EPO), which has recently escalated because EPO staff won a ruling form a Dutch appeals court but the Dutch government won't allow it to be enforced against the EPO for immunity reasons.