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Work on a Community Patent started in the 1970s, but the resulting Community Patent Convention was a failure. Renewed efforts from the European Union have now resulted in a Community Patent Regulation. It provides that the patent application need be in only one language: one of English, French or German. The patent claims are to be translated into all European Union languages. However, the patent will not be enforceable against an entity until they are provided with a copy of it in their own national language. The Community Patent Regulation will also establish a court holding exclusive jurisdiction to invalidate issued patents; thus, a Community Patent's validity will be the same in all EU member states. This court will be attached to the present European Court of Justice and Court of First Instance through use of provisions in the Treaty of Nice.
There is widespread support for the Community Patent. The main difficulty it faces is Spain's disagreement with the exclusion of Spanish from the languages allowed for patent application. Because of this dispute, the proposal was stalled.
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