European Patent Convention - Legal Nature and Content

Legal Nature and Content

The European Patent Convention is "a special agreement within the meaning of Article 19 of the Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed in Paris on 20 March 1883 and last revised on 14 July 1967, and a regional patent treaty within the meaning of Article 45, paragraph 1, of the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 19 June 1970." The European Patent Convention currently does not lead to the grant of centrally enforceable, European Union (EU)-wide patents. Such unitary EU patents do not exist yet. Since the 1970s however, there has been concurrent discussion towards the creation of a Community patent, or EU patent, in the European Union.

The content of the Convention includes several texts in addition to the main 178 articles. These additional texts, which are integral parts of the Convention, are

• the "Implementing Regulations to the Convention on the Grant of European patents", commonly known as the "Implementing Regulations";
• the "Protocol on Jurisdiction and the recognition of decisions in respect of the right to the grant of a European patent", commonly known as the "Protocol on Recognition". This protocol deals with the right to the grant of a European patent but exclusively applies to European patent applications.
• the "Protocol on Privileges and Immunities of the European Patent Organisation", commonly known as the "Protocol on Privileges and Immunities";
• the "Protocol on the Centralisation of the European Patent System and on its Introduction", commonly known as the "Protocol on Centralisation";
• the "Protocol on the Interpretation of Article 69 of the Convention".