Judicial coherence in the current European patent system

Abstract

Chapter 3 analyses the status of judicial coherence in the current European patent system through the lens of the conceptual framework. The first part of the chapter describes the structure of the European patent system with its diversified set of actors at the legislative, executive and judicial levels that are part of the European Union (EU) and European Patent Organisation (EPOrg) pillars. Moreover, the first part of Chapter 3 illustrates how harmonisation through international and EU legislation in the patent field has ultimately fostered a coherent interpretation of the law. In the second part of the chapter, the main actors of the patent system are described and some examples on different combinations of specialisation and centralisation in European national courts are shown. Then the main challenges to coherence are described by exploring relevant case law.