Skip to content

Aims and Objectives

EPLAW was established with the aim of working towards a harmonised European patent litigation system. It has worked for over 20 years both to help develop and promote a unified forum for European patent dispute resolution. The Unified Patent Court has now come into existence to bring that vision to life. The organisation continues to work, however, to promote patent law harmonisation both within the UPC and across the national patent jurisdictions which remain a vibrant and vital part of the EUropean patent system.

EPLAW has actively assisted in the development of proposals for a new pan-European patent court system, and members have been involved in preparing the draft Rules of Procedure for the Unified Patents Court (UPC).

Since 2005, EPLAW has been working with the EPO (European Patent Office) Academy to organise the annual Venice Patent Judges’ Forum.

EPLAW assists with training European judges and promoting a harmonised approach to the interpretation of European patent law in national patent courts and in the UPC. EPLAW holds an annual congress in Brussels, operates Young EPLAW for patent lawyers working in the offices of EPLAW members and maintains the EPLAW blog providing free access to patent judgments and patent information from across European jurisdictions.

EPLAW Patent Blog

Get the latest European patent law developments