06.10.10
UPLS is on the Rocks
Summary: The unified patent litigation system (UPLS) — a back door to software patents in Europe — may be on its deathbed
FOR those who do not know, UPLS is one of the latest sets of clothing for those whose goal is to subvert EU law and make Free software borderline illegal in the whole continent (freedom gone in one fell swoop). Axel H. Horns has been keeping an eye on the subject for quite some time and his latest report calls TFEU “a monster”. Glyn Moody wonders out loud, “could this kill the EU patent?”
This TFEU is a monster. I do commiserate with the Judges who are confronted with the inescapable duty to make sense of all that. In the above text I merely have picked up some of the contributions made. See the full text in the minutes of the Hearing as linked above to enjoy the full spectrum of legal arguing as presented in Luxemburg.
Obviously the points made by the opponents of the PC are least partially seen even by the supporters. For me as a humble Patent Attorney it appears to be entirely open as to whether or not the Court might accept the golden argumentative bridges built by various Governments (see above for the German version) in order to make the overall construct looking compatible with the EU Treaties.
There is even arguing that – at least in the present phase of lawmaking – the referral is inadmissible.
What I don’t understand is this: Why on earth did various EU Member States press in the negotiations so hard to include countries which are not EU Member States? It would have been a titanic effort to push through a EU Patent plus a EU Patent Court exclusively for EU Member States. But the complexity which now has been arranged by the decision of the EU Council to include non-EU countries is sheer overwhelming.
More from Axel (prior to the above):
In some earlier posting I had reported that, on the occasion of the 2945th session of the Council of the European Union – Competitiveness Configuration (Internal Market, Industry and Research) – held on May 28, 2009, and in accordance with a Presidency proposal, a decision was taken to allow for a re-examination by the European Court of Justice (now: Court of Justice of the European Union) of the compatibility of the drafted agreement on a single court system for solving patent disputes. However, the EU Council did not publish any Documents from which the gist of the questions put before the ECJ could be derived.
Here is another new take on the subject:
UPLS: ‘We will fight them on the beaches …’
The Court of Justice of the European Union has received submissions in Opinion 1/09 Unified patent litigation system. In this Report for the Hearing, almost all possibilities regarding the legality of the proposed unified patent litigation system are contemplated:
“16 The observations submitted argue one of the following: (i) that the request for an opinion is inadmissible or (ii) that the draft agreement is incompatible with the Treaty [establishing the European Community] or (iii) that it is necessary to make amendments to the draft agreement in order to ensure its conformity with the Treaty or (iv) that the draft agreement is compatible with the Treaty”.
What a mess. This is good news and the FFII is pleased. It will also attend LinuxTag 2010 for those who are interested. █
