The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is a planned future court common to EU Member States which participate in the Unitary Patent system, and it will be part of their judicial system. After a transitional period of 7 years or 14 years at most, it will have exclusive competence in respect of traditional European patents and European patents with unitary effect (Unitary Patents). The UPC is based on the Unified Patent Court Agreement. The Unitary Patent system and the UPC are planned to start functioning once certain ratification conditions have been fulfilled.
Although observers think a ‘leave’ vote in the UK Brexit referendum of 23 June 2016 could be a great setback or even the end for the Unitary Patent (UP) system even before it launches, preparations go on unabatedly. Recruitment of judges for the Unified Patent Court (UPC) is underway, a Draft Code of Conduct has been published, and at its…
A decision on the Code of Conduct for practitioners at the Unified Patent Court, which was scheduled for May 2016, will likely be postponed. In reaction to a critical letter of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), that argued it should have the opportunity to advise on the draft Code, the…
The recruitment of legally and technically qualified judges of the Unified Patent Court has started. Vacancy notices for the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal in English, French, and German were published on 9 May 2016. As is explained in the vacancy notice, an Advisory Committee (comprising ‘patent judges and practitioners in patent law and…
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 last month. Top 3 Kluwer Patent Blog posts…
by Nicholas Round On 19 April 2016 Birss J handed down a short but notable judgment in the matter of EMGS v PGS. Following a three-week trial in March 2016 the parties had decided to settle the matter before receiving judgment. However, the purpose of Birss J’s judgment was not particularly to comment on this,…
European patent attorneys should make a joint effort and gather data to assess the impact of procedural issues on opposition procedures at the European Patent Office and, in the future, on decisions of the Unified Patent Court. Michael Wallinger, partner of law firm WRST, proposed this at the annual meeting of the European Patent Litigators…
Europe is preparing for the launch of the new Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC). A provisional phase for the UPC is expected to start later this year, with a view to a full start of the system in the spring of 2017. In a series of articles, Kluwer IP Law explains the…
If reaction from business to the Unified Patent Court is good, it will definitely be a challenge for the new management of the Court. Eileen Tottle, Head of the Secretariat of the UPC Preparatory Committee, said this in an interview with Kluwer IP Law. ‘Setting up a completely new business, which is of course is…
The UPC Preparatory Committee has announced the selection of judges will start soon. During its 15th meeting, on 14 April 2016 in Luxembourg, agreement was reached on the recruitment package. In its report on the meeting the Preparatory Committee writes this means ‘adverts for judicial appointments can be advertised in May. The exact date of…
Europe is preparing for the launch of the new Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC). A provisional phase for the UPC is expected to start later this year, with a view to a full start of the system in the spring of 2017. In a series of articles, Kluwer IP Law explains the…
