A New Kind of Justice? In the often adversarial landscape of European patent litigation, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has introduced a lesser-known, but potentially transformative institution: the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre (PMAC). Split between Lisbon and Ljubljana, the PMAC quietly proposes an alternative vision for dispute resolution—one that trades force for dialogue, and…
The use of divisional patent applications in order to ensure flexibility and to keep a patentee’s options open as to the protection it seeks to obtain is established practice in many patent offices around the world. The use of divisionals is particularly common in the pharmaceutical field, where the exact form of an authorized medicine…
Diving into the labyrinth of intertwined dreams in Christopher Nolan’s Inception—where each dream level operates under its own rules while influencing the others—sharply illuminates the intricate structure of the European patent litigation system. Within this evolving landscape, patent holders are granted procedural freedom: during the transitional phase of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), they may…
It has been 1,5 years since the UPC opened its door. The novelty is wearing off as the UPC’s case law takes shape. This is a good moment to reflect a little more on another aspect of the UPC’s operation: the rules of conduct that UPC representatives have to follow. In general, the rules of…
In a decision rendered on 12 June 2024, the full chamber of the private law division (‘Segunda Seção’) of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice ruled that state courts may decide on the validity of patents when the validity is put in issue by way of defence in civil proceedings for infringement (EREsp 1.332.417/RS). The…
This is part II of an open letter directed to the President of the EPO in his capacity to give directions on the composition of Opposition Divisions. Article 19 EPC explicitly permits the Primary Examiner to be member of an Opposition Division. Many applicants and representatives, however, have a feeling of bias in favour of…
On 12 July 2024 the English Court of Appeal gave its second FRAND determination judgment, in the context of an appeal and cross-appeal of Mellor J’s first instance decision in IDC v Lenovo. This decision continues the English Court’s theme, first developed in Unwired Planet, of taking a pragmatic approach to arriving at a set…
In June 2023, the UPC – at the Düsseldorf Local Division – granted its first ex parte provisional injunction (“PI”) in myStromer AG v Revolt Zycling AG (“myStromer v Revolt”), despite the defendant having previously filed a protective letter. A year on from that decision, and with only one other ex parte PI decision having…
On the 23 May 2024, the English Patents Court dismissed an application by Lenovo for an interim injunction to prevent Ericsson infringing one of Lenovo’s patents pending the outcome of the UK proceedings ([2024] EWHC 1267 (Ch)). In particular, the Court found that the application failed on the basis that damages are an adequate remedy…
On 24 April 2024, the UPC’s Central Division in Paris granted Nicoventures Trading Limited access to written pleadings and evidence under RoP 262.1(b) in a patent revocation case brought by NJOY Netherlands B.V. against Juul Labs International, Inc (ORD_587436/2023 in UPC_CFI_316/2023). Nicoventures had made the document access request on 15 November 2023, however the Paris…
