The EPLA was a proposed alternative to a set of proposed Community patent regulations. The European Commission regarded the negotiations on the EPLA as unlawful, although in 2006 it had gained a considerable ground among patent practitioners and national patent judges. The EPLA proposal was essentially dropped in 2007 after the Legal Service of European Parliament issued an opinion that the EPLA would prima facie constitute a breach of Article 292 of the EC Treaty and thus the European Community and its members states could not participate. Many of its provisions were subsequently incorporated into the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, which is currently undergoing ratification.