The recruitment procedure for judges of the Unified Patent Court has been suspended until more is known about the consequences of the UK’s Brexit vote for the Unitary Patent system. Earlier this week, the UPC Preparatory Committee announced the first round of selection of candidates has continued despite the Brexit vote, but ‘the commencement of…
The Preparatory Committee for the Unified Patent Court will publish a revised time plan for setting up the UPC and Unitary Patent system ‘in due course’. The Committee announced this after its 18th meeting, Monday 10 October 2016 in Paris, where it ‘took the opportunity to discuss the road ahead given the uncertainty that has…
Is there a way out of the deadlock created by the Brexit vote and can the Unitary Patent system still go live next year as planned? According to Wouter Pors, partner of Bird & Bird in The Hague, industry clearly prefers a UP system including the UK and attempts are being made to convince the…
Slovenia is expected to deposit its instrument of ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement with the Council of the European Union soon, bringing the number of ratifying countries to twelve. However, due to the Brexit vote and recent statements of UK prime minister Theresa May about what this vote should mean for the UK,…
On Sunday, 2.10.2016, the Guardian wrote: Controlling immigration would be the key basis for departure, May said. The government would seek access to the EU’s single market if possible, she said, adding: “But let me be clear. We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again. And we are…
The Preparatory Committee of the Unified Patent Court reported earlier this month that its work will be finished by the time of its meeting in October, and this will be its last. Due to the political reality of the Brexit vote and the legal uncertainty over its future participation in the Unitary Patent project, it is…
The final morning of the AIPPI Milano Congress contained a blockbuster, 4-hour, 3-part session on Brexit and the UPC: “Panel Session IX: Patent – The UPC – Brexit or business as usual?” The structure and panellists for the session were as follows: Part 1 – Brexit implications for the UPC Moderator: Thierry Calame, Lenz &…
by Vanessa Rieu The first panel session of the AIPPI Milano conference – an “additional session”, crammed in early on the Sunday morning, focused on Brexit and its implications for IP. Moderator Prof Cesare Galli (IP Law Galli), and panellists Sarah Matheson (AIPPI Reporter General), Gordon Harris (Gowlings WLG (UK)), Francesca Giovanni (OSHA Liang (FR))…
A post-Brexit UK can stay in the Unitary Patent system, although a number of criteria would have to be met. That is the opinion of leading counsel Richard Gordon QC and Tom Pascoe of Brick Court Chambers, who were asked by the IP Federation, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and the Intellectual Property Lawyers…
The Italian Chamber of Deputies, the Parliament’s lower house, has approved the draft bill on ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA). According to a report of the Società Italiana Brevetti (SIB), there were 302 votes in favour, 108 against and 25 abstentions. The bill will now go to the Italian Senate. Despite the Brexit vote…
