Patent Laws in European Countries

European patent law covers a wide range of legislations including national patent laws, the European Patent Convention of 1973, the Strasbourg Convention of 1963, and a number of European Union directives and regulations.

Patents having effect in European states may be obtained either nationally, patent prosecution process at the European Patent Office (EPO). The EPO is not a body of the European Union and the states contracting to the European Patent Convention different from those forming the European Union. A patent granted by the EPO does not lead to a single European Union-wide patent enforceable before one single court, but rather to independent national patents enforceable by national courts.

European patent law is also shaped by international agreements such as the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the Patent Law Treaty (PLT).