The start of the Unitary Patent system ‘is a big event with big economic consequence. Europe could reconstitute their economic relevance’ around it, says John White, Special Counsel of law firm Harness IP in the US. In an interview he told Kluwer IP Law not everybody seems aware yet about the upcoming game changer, but…
The European Commission’s recently leaked Proposal for a Regulation on standard-essential patents (SEPs), summarized here by Enrico Bonadio and Dyuti Pandya, establishes a framework for transparent SEP licensing. Some have criticized the proposal, claiming among other things that it is unnecessary, harmful to innovation, and difficult to implement. Much of this critique is unjustified. More…
It is totally unacceptable to strip the competencies of the third seat of the central division of the Unified Patent Court now that it will not go to London but most likely to Milan. Lorenzo Montanari, executive director of the Property Rights Alliance (PRA), has said this in an interview with Kluwer IP Law. Last…
The Unified Patent Court is struggling once more with technical issues. In the meantime, the registrar has stated he cannot give legal advice on the UPC’s opt-out procedure. Two days ago, the court announced that technical maintenance was needed due to technical difficulties, and that the CMS would not be available for three days –…
EU institutions have recently paid attention to Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and how the SEPs framework could be improved to encourage innovation while also promoting competition and satisfy consumers’ interests. In its 2020 Intellectual Property Action Plan on IP, for example, the Commission stressed the need to set the right conditions for a transparent, predictable…
The Registrar of the Unified Patent Court has provided information on most commonly identified issues regarding the sunrise functionalities of the Court’s CMS. According to the Registrar, former chairman of the UPC’s preparatory committee Alexander Ramsay, three weeks into the sunrise period approximately 1500 applications to register as a representative before the Court have been…
This year’s release of Visser’s Annotated European Patent Convention, or as it is commonly known, simply “Visser” is just around the corner. Since the previous edition, updated until March 2022, there have been several law changes, as well as new case law and updates in the Guidelines. Those changes are reflected in the update, and…
Just days after the announcement of a gender equality referendum in Ireland, which will be held in November, representatives of Irish industry urged the government to hold a referendum on ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement on the same date. However, it seems likely this will not take place before the start of next…
France, Germany and Italy are holding trilateral talks on redistribution of the competencies that were originally allocated to the London seat of the UPC’s central division among Paris, Munich and Milan. According to the German Ministry of Justice, a decision is expected shortly. A spokesperson told Kluwer IP Law: ‘Once an agreement has been reached,…
For privacy and security reasons, the Unified Patent Court has temporarily deactivated a CMS functionality linked to the opt-out procedure. The UPC reported today that in the week preceding the start of the sunrise period – which started 1 March 2023, ‘it became clear that the public API designed to retrieve public documentation from the…
