It also serves as the superset of the patent laws of the individual member states of the European Union (EU).
The most recent (proposed) addition to the range of measures currently in place is the Directive on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
"The most noticeable characteristic of the present state of the patent law in the EU is its dualism, i.e. the coexistence of two different ways for obtaining patents with the same effects, namely limited to the territory of the Member State for which they are granted.
"[1] "The continuing decentralized administration of European patents in as many as 17 States, in spite of the Single Market and the Maastricht Treaties, is an anachronism for which applicants have to pay dearly.
Enforcement is another area where European patent holders must still live with disadvantages unknown to their US and Japanese competitors in their own countries.”[2]