The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has declared that plans to form a European Patents Court are incompatible with EU treaties, marking a setback in the long-running campaign to create a centralised patent litigation system in Europe.
The Council of the European Union requested the opinion of the ECJ last June, with the Advocate General’s response on 2 July stating that: “As it stands at present, the envisaged agreement creating a unified patent litigation system is incompatible with the treaties.”
