Harmonisation of patent law within the European Union : past and current trends

Abstract

In the past years the EU has embarked upon various initiatives of harmonisation in specialised fields of patent law. The 1998 "Biotechnology Directive" and the "Software Patent" Directive proposed in 2002 have both, m their own way, proved controversial. Chapter 5 tackles the issue of biotechnology patents and examines the provisions of the Directive in the light of existing case-law of the European Patent Office. Chapter 6 also makes reference to EPO case-law, this time in relation to the patentability of computer-implemented inventions (including methods of doing business). Such patents are the subject of a proposed Community Directive which purports to clarify certain inconsistencies m case-law of the EPO and national Member States regarding software patents. The thesis ends with a reference to patent law in Malta and the effects of European and international harmonisation attempts on the law of our country.