Purpose: Significant Improvements to EPLA text
The European patent establishment is proposing a new treaty, the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA), which, as Commissioner McCreevy puts it, allows for "one-stop patent litigation" in Europe. However, as a side effect, the EPLA increases litigation costs for most businesses and concentrates legislative, judicial and executive power in the hands of a small circle of patent salesmen.
The European Parliament has called for "significant improvements to the EPLA text, which adress concerns about democratic control, judicial independence and litigation costs".
We are trying to work out proposals and a prepare a campaign for such improvements.
Venice Judges Appeal and 2006-11-25 Munich Conference
The Venice Judges who publicly backed the EPLA plan last year are among the first people whom we will try to convince of our "significant improvements". Thus the 10cc workgroup has in fact become a part of the eupat workgroup.
One of the first occasions for public discussion of these proposals will be a small-scale conference in Munich on Saturday Nov 25th at the occasion of the FFII's General Assembly.