Patent Application Strategy in Europe for the Pharmaceutical Industry - How should pharmaceutical companies’ patent application strategy change with the introduction of the Unitary Patent and the European and European Union Patent Court?

Abstract: This thesis aims to establish how the introduction of the Unitary Patent and the European and European Union Patent Court will affect the pharmaceutical industry’s choice of patent application route when applying for patents in Europe in the future. To establish the expected effect of the Unitary Patent on the industry interviews with a selection of professionals in the research and development industry, the public sector and a patent litigator have been carried out. The research and interviews has shown an array of advantages associated with the Unitary Patent, mainly of economic nature as an effect of reduced translation requirements and increased centralised administration but also we are likely to see that practice will eventually become more predictable within Europe. Many of the problems that remain to be established in the draft agreements have proven to be a major disadvantage to the Unitary Patent as it adds a dimension of uncertainty to the patent holder. The fact that Italy and Spain have chosen to opt out of the Unitary Patent project is unsurprisingly a major disadvantage to the project and the European Union as a whole. It has been concluded that the many uncertainties and the disadvantages already shown with the Unitary Patent the best recommendation to patent applicants in the future is to stay with the European patent or national patents to see how European and European Union Patent Court practice develops and how the will be perceived by the industry.