Introduction The debate over standard essential patents (SEPs) often focuses on the interpretation of FRAND terms and conditions and the extent to which patent owners can refuse to license their exclusive rights to implementers, and ask courts to issue injunctions against them. What is also discussed by SEPs commentators (perhaps, to a lesser extent) is…

Regulation (EU) 2019/933, amending the Regulation (EC) No 469/2009 concerning the supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 11th  June 2019 and thus came into effect on 1st July 2019. The amended Regulation establishes the so-called “SPC waiver”, that excludes…

In a position paper published on 23 December 2020, the IP Federation in the UK has expressed concern about the uncertainties surrounding the Unified Patent Court. According to Scott Roberts, president of the IP Federation, the value of the project has diminished considerably for its members. Kluwer IP Law interviewed Roberts. The position paper states “Whilst it…

(UPDATED) Two new constitutional complaints against ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement have been filed with Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court. The FCC confirmed to Kluwer IP Law it received the complaints: “Regarding the Act on the Agreement of 13 February 2013 on a Unified Patent Court, two constitutional complaints have been filed and are…

The German Bundesrat approved the Unified Patent Court Agreement and its Protocol on Provisional Application (PPA) earlier today, three weeks after its approval in the Bundestag. To complete the German ratification procedure, the bills will have to be signed by the government and Bundespräsident and published in the Federal Law Gazette. The completion of the…

The UPC Preparatory Committee has reacted with enthusiasm to the approval in the German Bundestag of the ratification legislation for the Unified Patent Court Agreement. In an announcement on its website the Committee writes: “The goal of bringing the Unified Patent Court into operation moves an important step closer this evening with the news from…

The German Bundestag has approved draft legislation to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement. 571 representatives support the UPCA, 73 voted against. It means the necessary 2/3 majority was easily achieved. There were three abstentions. The vote is an important step towards introduction of the Unitary Patent system, which can enter into force only after…

(UPDATED) The German draft ratification bill of the Unified Patent Court Agreement will be discussed in the crucial legal committee of the Bundestag next Wednesday. It is one of the issues that on the agenda of the legal committee for 25 November 2020, which was published today. According to this report of Bristows, the draft…

In Germany the re-ratification process of the Unified Patent Court Agreement – which is necessary after the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) partially upheld a complaint last March and declared the first ratification procedure invalid – is progressing rapidly. The decisive reading in the Bundestag, which will make clear whether the UPCA gets support from the…