“European Patents Convention”

A Proposal made by:

Shashwat Pratyush

Roll No: 1761

Class: B.A.LL.B.(Hons.)

Semester: 7th

Dr. S.C. Roy,

Professor of Law

A research submitted in partial fulfilment of the course of Intellectual Property Rights for
attaining the degree B.A.LL.B. (Hons.)

OCTOBER ,2020

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Nyaya Nagar, Mithapur, Patna (Bihar)-800001

INTRODUCTION

Over thirty years have passed since the European Patent Convention ("EUROPEAN
PATENT CONVENTION 1973") was first enacted, a body of patent law that is the
cornerstone of European patent practice. However, in light of increasingly rapid
developments in a wide range of technologies, the ratification of several international treaties,
and a rather significant upswing in the number of European Patent Convention signatory
states ("European Patent Convention Contracting States"), the Administrative Council of the
European Patent Organization noted that the European Patent Convention 1973 could benefit
from an update and thus initiated an effort in 1998 to revise the European Patent Convention.
The aim of this revision was to modernize the European patent system while maintaining the
proven foundational principles of substantive and procedural patent law that are enshrined in
the European Patent Convention 1973. This article surveys the goals of the 2000 revision of
the European Patent Convention ("European Patent Convention 2000") in the context of the
changes it implements and the impact of these amendments on European patent practice.

Developments in both international law and in several European technology sectors

compelled many of the revisions now embodied in the European Patent Convention 2000,
which came into effect on December 13, 2007. The first of these developments was the
recognition that European patent law needed to be harmonized with various legislative
initiatives, including European Union ("EU") Directives and international agreements
affecting intellectual property rights. Some of the more significant international agreements
in this area include the TRIPS Agreement and the Patent Law Treaty, which was signed by
the EPO in 2001. Another major development that necessitated the European Patent
Convention revision was the influx of new European Patent Convention Contracting States,
which challenged the EPO to provide simpler, more flexible procedures concerning the
European patent grant. Finally, the proliferation of new technologies, especially
biotechnologies, demanded that the European Patent Convention be revised to accommodate
both the emerging developments and the related ethical concerns arising from this particular
market.

Despite the success of the Diplomatic Conference in redrafting the European Patent
Convention, enactment of the European Patent Convention 2000 required passing another
procedural hurdle: National governments would require substantial time to draft and adopt
the new European Patent Convention provisions into their own national law. To remedy this
situation, the delegates agreed that the new European Patent Convention would become
effective two years from the date when the 15th member state acceded to the Convention. In
December 2005, Greece became that 15th state, and the European Patent Convention 2000
entered into force on December 13, 2007.

The European Patent Convention (EPC) is an attempt to simplify European patent law. The
Convention provides a procedure for securing a single, European patent, which has the effect
of a national patent in the signatory nations designated in the application. Through this
alternative to national procedures, widespread patent coverage should be easier to obtain.
Requirements for a European patent, however, are rigorous and its attraction is primarily the
consolidation of the grant procedures. The EPC establishes several organs to handle the
various aspects of the patent application procedure. The European Patent Office (EPO),
located in Munich, is the international equivalent of a national patent office. Its
administrative divisions are the General Search Division, the Examining Division, and the
Opposition Division. The Receiving Section is at The Hague.

The first procedural step is the filing of an application at either a national patent office or
directly with the EPO. The application may be in any of the three official languages (English,
French, or German) and the applicant's choice becomes the language of the proceedings. The
Receiving Section subjects the application to both a preliminary and a supplementary formal
examination to determine whether it is in proper form and all fees are paid. If all is in order,
the application is forwarded to the General Search Division.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

 For the project, the researcher will be relying upon the Doctrinal method of Research.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS?

 What is Patent law?

 How different European Patent Convention from other patent law?
 What is the procedure to change the substantive as well as procedure law?
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

 To understand the European Patent Convention.

 To study the function of the convention.
  To examine the applicability of convention in different countries.
HYPOTHESIS:

The researcher presumes that European gpatent which has the effect of a national
patent in the signatory nations designated in the application.

LIMITATIONS OF STUDY:

 Owing to the large number of topics that could be included in the project, the scope of
this research project is exceedingly vast. However, in the interest of brevity, this paper
has been limited to the specified topics. Also, the researcher will have time and
money limitations while making of this project.

TENTATIVE CHAPTERIZATION

1. INTRODUCTION
2. FUNCTIONS OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION
3. CHANGES TO SUBSTANTIVE PATENT LAW
4. CHANGES TO PROCEDURAL EUROPEAN PATENTS CONVENTION PATENT
LAW
5. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The researcher has consulted following sources to complete the Rough proposal.

Primary Sources:

1. European Patent Convention ,1973

2. Partner: Langer, Parry, Card & Langer; New York, N. Y.

Secondary sources

I. Websites
1. European Patent Office, The London Agreement, http://www.epo.org/
topics/issues/london-agreement.html
2. EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE, EPC 500, art. 1.5 (13th ed. 2007), available at
http://documents.epo.org/projects/babylon/eponet.nsf/
O/E4F8409B2A99862FC125736B00374CEC/$File/EUROPEAN PATENT
CONVENTION _1