BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe’s highest court has dealt a blow to attempts to create a pan–European court to handle patent litigation, saying it would break EU law.
In a legal opinion, which is not binding but followed in most cases, the European Court of Justice said Tuesday that the planned European and Community Patent Court “would alter the essential character of the powers conferred on the institutions of the European Union and on the member states.”
At the moment, alleged infringements of patent have to be challenged in national courts, creating huge costs that smaller companies have trouble covering.
The European patent court was supposed to handle cases for 38 states, including all EU countries but also states like Turkey and Switzerland.
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