Publication

Bruno van Pottelsberghe and Malwina Mejer argue that the consequences of the ‘fragmentation‘ of the European patent system are more dramatic than the mere prohibitive costs of maintaining a patent in force in many jurisdictions. The authors first show that heterogeneous national litigation costs, practices and outcome induce a high level of uncertainty. But also that a high degree of managerial complexity results from systemic incongruities due to easier ‘parallel imports‘, possible ‘time paradoxes‘ and the de facto paradox of having EU-level competition policy and granting authority, ultimately facing national jurisdictional primacy on patent issues.