| Abstract [eng] |
Unitary Patent: Advantages and Problems In 2012 the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament agreed on two regulations laying the foundation of unitary patent protection in European Union. Afterwards, in 2013, 25 European Union member states signed the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, establishing a common supranational court with exclusive competence in respect of European patents with unitary effect and European patents granted under the provisions of the European Patent Convention. The aim of this reform is to simplify patent protection system, make it more cost effective and easy to use, especially for those seeking a wider scope of protection in Europe. However, the question persists, how exactly the new patent protection system in European Union will affect the existing patent protection landscape. It is worth noticing that there are divergent evaluations of effectiveness of the new system in scientific literature. The aim of the master theses is to identify what are the benefits and problems related to the unitary patent and also evaluate the effect of unitary patent on Lithuania’s entities. The first chapter of the thesis presents the historical aspects of development of unitary patent protection system and addresses the obstacles, which in the past have prevented the European countries from reaching the agreement on the creation of unitary patent title. The following chapter displays what were the final decisions, which leaded to establishment of unitary patent and Unified Patent Court systems, the legal instruments constituting so called unitary patent package and the conception of unitary patent. The next chapters analyze the main aspects related to unitary patent protection system and, by comparing it to current European patent, reveal its benefits and drawbacks. Exceptional attention is given to the assessment of the unitary patent system effect on entities operating in Lithuania. In addition, separate chapter is focused on analysis of Unified Patent Court in order to ascertain its impact on present patent litigation in Europe. Research lead to conclusions that the establishment of unitary patent system will bring many benefits for system users, firstly because of centralized grant procedures, which will provide easier, less fragmented and burdensome access to a wider patent protection. More effective patent system should encourage initiatives to patent, however higher numbers of protected patents in Lithuania will mean higher possibilities of unintentional patent infringements, so entities will have to operate more cautiously. Also the increase of patent trolling activity is possible, thought high spread of their operation is not expected. Furthermore, the foundation of Unified Patent Court should contribute to more legal certainty and lessen opportunities for forum shopping. |
