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European patent law covers a wide range of legislations including national patent laws, the Strasbourg Convention of 1963, the European Patent Convention of 1973, and a number of European Union directives and regulations in countries which are party to the European Patent Convention. For certain states in Eastern Europe, the Eurasian Patent Convention applies. Patents having effect in most European states may be obtained either nationally, via national patent offices, or via a centralised patent prosecution process at the European Patent Office (EPO). The EPO is a public international organisation established by the European Patent Convention. The EPO is not a European Union or a Council of Europe institution.〔EPO web site, List of Contracting States of the European Patent Organisation: (''EPO contracting states'' ). Retrieved on September 4, 2009.〕 A patent granted by the EPO does not lead to a single European patent enforceable before one single court, but rather to a bundle of essentially independent national European patents enforceable before national courts according to different national legislations and procedures.〔 ("Prise de position des Avocats Généraux présentée le 2 juillet 2010" ), Opinion 1/09, Court of Justice of the European Union, July 2, 2010, point 4.〕 Similarly, Eurasian patents are granted by the Eurasian Patent Office and become after grant independent national Eurasian patents enforceable before 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 (TRIPs Agreement), the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) and the London Agreement. == Types of patent protection in Europe == A characteristic of European patent law as it stands today is that European patents granted by the European Patent Office (EPO), and patents granted by national patent offices are available, and may possibly –if permitted by national law and, if so, to the extent permitted by national law– co-exist within a given jurisdiction. Utility models, referred to as "''Gebrauchsmuster''" in Germany and Austria, are available in some countries. Patent applications can be filed at the relevant national patent office or at the European Patent Office. Alternatively, an international application may be filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and later nationalised in the desired countries or at the EPO. However, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, and Slovenia have "closed their national route" meaning that it is no longer possible to nationalise an international application in those countries directly and protection can only be obtained via the EPO.〔"European Patent Office web site, (''Accession to the PCT by Malta (MT)'' ), Information from the European Patent Office, January 2, 2007〕〔(''Latvia: Closing of the National Route via the PCT'' ), PCT Newsletter of April 2007.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「European patent law」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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