European Union law is the system of laws operating within the member states of the European Union. The EU has political institutions and social and economic policies. According to its Court of Justice, the EU represents "a new legal order of international law". The EU's legal foundations are the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, unanimously agreed by the governments of 28 member states. New states may join the EU, if they agree to operate by the rules of the organisation, and existing members may leave according to their "own constitutional requirements". Citizens are able to vote directly in elections to the Parliament, while their national governments operate on behalf of them in the Council of the European Union and the European Council. The Commission is the executive branch. The Council of the European Union represents member state governments, while the Court of Justice is meant to uphold the rule of law and human rights. As the Court of Justice said, the EU is "not merely an economic union" but is intended to "ensure social progress and seek the constant improvement of the living and working conditions of their peoples".
The European Patent Convention (EPC), also known as the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to which European patents are granted. The term European patent is used to refer to patents granted under the European Patent Convention. However, a European patent is not a unitary right, but a group of essentially independent nationally-enforceable, nationally-revocable patents, subject to central revocation or narrowing as a group pursuant to two types of unified, post-grant procedures: a time-limited opposition procedure, which can be initiated by any person except the patent proprietor, and limitation and revocation procedures, which can be initiated by the patent proprietor only.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) is an independent body of the European Union (EU) to be established under the Treaty of Lisbon between 22 of the 28 members of the EU following the method of enhanced cooperation. It will be based in Luxembourg alongside the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the European Court of Auditors (ECA).
In the European Economic Area, a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) is a sui generis intellectual property (IP) right that extends the duration of certain rights associated with a patent. It enters into force after expiry of a patent upon which it is based. This type of right is available for various regulated, biologically active agents, namely human or veterinary medicaments and plant protection products. Supplementary protection certificates were introduced to encourage innovation by compensating for the long time needed to obtain regulatory approval of these products.
European patent law covers a wide range of legislations including national patent laws, the Strasbourg Convention of 1963, the European Patent Convention of 1973, and a number of European Union directives and regulations in countries which are party to the European Patent Convention. For certain states in Eastern Europe, the Eurasian Patent Convention applies.
The Brussels Regime is a set of rules regulating which courts have jurisdiction in legal disputes of a civil or commercial nature between individuals resident in different member states of the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). It has detailed rules assigning jurisdiction for the dispute to be heard and governs the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments.
European Union patent law is a subset of European patent law. It also serves as the superset of the patent laws of the individual member states of the European Union (EU). The most recent (proposed) addition to the range of measures currently in place is the Directive on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights. The most recent directive relating specifically to patents is Directive on the patentability of biotechnological inventions. Patents are probably the least harmonised area of intellectual property laws of the European Union insofar as harmonisation through EU Directives and Regulations is concerned. However, patentability criteria have been substantially harmonized by the European Patent Convention.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) is an independent supervisory authority whose primary objective is to ensure that European institutions and bodies respect the right to privacy and data protection when they process personal data and develop new policies.
A notified body, in the European Union, is an entity that has been accredited by a Member State to assess whether a product to be placed on the market meets certain preordained standards. Conformity assessment can include inspection and examination of a product, its design, and the manufacturing environment and processes associated with it. For example, a notified body may designate that a medical device conforms to the E.U. Medical Devices Directive, which defines the standards for medical devices. With this Declaration of Conformity, the manufacturer can label the product with the CE Mark, which is required for distribution and sale in the E.U. Additionally, the E.U. member state accrediting the notified body will then inform the European Commission that the product complies with set standards.
The European Union Divorce Law Pact or Rome III Regulation, formally Council Regulation (EU) No. 1259/2010 of 20 December 2010 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation is a regulation concerning the applicable law regarding divorce valid in 17 countries. The regulation dictates which law should be used in cross-border divorces, while which courts should be used is determined by the Brussels II Regulation, which is valid for all European Union countries, except Denmark. The agreement, approved by Council of the European Union on 20 December 2010, took effect in the 14 original contracting parties on 21 June 2012 and makes use of the enhanced co-operation mechanism which allows a minimum of nine EU member states to establish advanced integration or cooperation in an area within EU structures but without all members being involved.
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is a proposed common patent court open for participation of all member states of the European Union. It will hear cases regarding infringement and revocation proceedings of European patents that are valid in the territories of the participating states, with a single court ruling being directly applicable throughout those territories. Requesting unitary patents upon the grant of certain European patents will be possible from the establishment of the Court. It is to be established by the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court. which was signed as an intergovernmental treaty in February 2013 by 25 states. It will enter into force on the first day of the fourth month after meeting three predefined conditions.
The European Case Law Identifier (ECLI) is an identifier for case law in Europe, implemented by the European Union Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, the European Patent Office and several EU Member States. The identifier consists of 5 parts separated by colons: ECLI:[country code]:[court identifier]:[year of decision]:[specific identifier]. The system contains also a set of uniform metadata to improve search facilities for case law. The standard is laid down in the Council Conclusions inviting the introduction of the European Case Law Identifier (ECLI) and a minimum set of uniform metadata for case law of the European Union.
The unitary patent for Switzerland and Liechtenstein is a patent having a unitary character over the territories of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It can either be a national patent, or a European patent granted under the European Patent Convention (EPC) and having a unitary character pursuant to Article 142(1) EPC. The unitary patent "may only be granted, transferred, annulled or lapse in respect of the whole territory of protection," i.e. for both Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, Mario Costeja González (2014) is a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It held that an Internet search engine operator is responsible for the processing that it carries out of personal information which appears on web pages published by third parties.
Maximilian Schrems is an Austrian activist and author who became known for campaigns against Facebook for privacy violation, including its violations of European privacy laws and alleged transfer of personal data to the US National Security Agency (NSA) as part of the NSA's PRISM program. Schrems is the founder of NOYB – European Center for Digital Rights.
The Treaties of the European Union are a set of international treaties between the European Union (EU) member states which sets out the EU's constitutional basis. They establish the various EU institutions together with their remit, procedures and objectives. The EU can only act within the competences granted to it through these treaties and amendment to the treaties requires the agreement and ratification of every single signatory.
The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is an agency created by European Union Regulation 439/2010 to strengthen the cooperation of EU Member States on asylum, enhance the implementation of the Common European Asylum System, and support Member States under particular pressure.
G 2/12 and G 2/13 are two decisions by the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO), which issued on 25 March 2015. The cases were consolidated and are contentwise identical. The cases concern the patentability of biological products through the description of the procedure for achieving that product. The Enlarged Board of Appeal ruled that such products were patentable and not in conflict with Article 53(b) EPC, which does not allow patents for "essentially biological" processes.
