Will the UK participate in the Unitary Patent system despite the Brexit vote of 23 Juni 2016? It has been the most important question concerning the system for over five months, but probably not much longer. Various sources expect the UK to make an announcement about its plans with the UP and UPC during the…
The Kluwer Patent Blog received an interesting contribution from the Italian Trade Union of IP Consultants in Italy (SICPI), concerning the relocation of the London section of the UPC Central Division in case the UK decides to leave the Unitary Patent system. Giovanni Bruni of the SICPI argues there are good arguments for Milan as…
The best way forward for the Unitary Patent system after the Brexit vote of 23 June 2016 is to find a way to keep the UK inside the system. That is the opinion of Francesco Macchetta, director IP of the Bracco Group, a healthcare multinational with headquarters in Milan. But if the British don’t stay…
The parliament in the Netherlands will hold a debate on the ‘deteriorating social situation’ at the European Patent Office. The recent dismissal of a SUEPO trade union leader in The Hague was one of the issues triggering a request for the debate. MP Sharon Gesthuizen of the socialist SP received support for her request from…
The unicameral parliament of Lithuania has adopted two laws concerning the future Unitary Patent system. A bill on ratification of the UPC Agreement and a bill on the establishment of a Nordic-Baltic regional division of the UPC were approved on 3 Novermber 2017. They will enter into force on 1 July 2017, according to the…
The decision today of the UK High Court that the government cannot trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and begin formal exit negotiations with the EU without approval of Parliament, is a setback for the UK prime minister Theresa May and increases the uncertainty regarding the Unitary Patent system. May had argued the government…
Protecting companies’ confidential business and technical information – “trade secrets” – is becoming a major priority of the private sector and governments around the world. For good reason: one in five European companies has been the victim of trade secret misappropriation, or attempts at misappropriation, at least once in the past 10 years, and for…
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…
To ensure you don’t miss out on interesting IP law developments reported on our other IP blogs, we will, on a regular basis, provide you with an overview of the top 3 most-read posts from each of our IP law blogs. Here are the top posts from August and September. Top 3 Kluwer Copyright Blog…
To ensure the continued development of medicinal products which are the result of enormous R&D costs the supplementary protection certificate (‘SPC’) was introduced into EU law in 1993 with the entry into force of the SPC Regulation (Council Regulation (EEC) No 1768/92). After the Ukraine’s declaration of independence, hard work on adopting new legislation began…
