The Unitary Patent (UP) system is a planned future system for patent protection within (part of) the EU. Under the system, unitary effect can be requested for European patents which have been granted by the European Patent Office (EPO). A patent with unitary effect, or Unitary Patent, is intended to provide protection in up to 26 EU Member States and will not have to be validated in every single state. A Unified Patent Court (UPC) will have exclusive competence in respect of Unitary Patents (as well – after a transitional period – in respect of traditional European patents).
Will Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) profit from the new Unitary Patent (UP) system and the Unified Patent Court (UPC)? Although it was certainly the idea, observers have disputed this and particularly warned that litigation under the new system exposes SMEs to enormous risks. There is now formal recognition they have a point: the European…
The creation of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) means that there will finally be a judiciary to control the very strong executive power of the European patent system, the European Patent Office, Jens Schovsbo, Professor at the Centre for Information and Innovation Law of the University of Copenhagen, told Kluwer IP Law in an interview. According…
The countdown to the new Unitary Patent system has begun. The Unified Patent Court is expected to open its doors at the start of 2017, preceded by a provisional phase in 2016 for the practical set up of the Court and the recruitment of judges and staff. Not only European patent specialists are preparing, companies…
The lack of provisions on Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) is seen as a major flaw in the new Unitary Patent (UP) system. Initiatives have been taken to address this issue and recently the European Commission put it on its action list. Why doesn’t the UP Regulation include a provision for SPCs? Anja Lunze, attorney at…
On 19 October 2015 the Preparatory Committee of the UPC has adopted the final 18th draft of the Rules of Procedure (RoP) of the Unified Patent Court. This means that the Committee ends its work regarding the Rules of Procedure. There is only one subject that still needs to be included in the RoP and…
The Rules of Procedure for the future Unified Patent Court have been published. According to the UPC Preparatory Committee ‘this is a major milestone in the progress of the Committees work’. ‘The agreed text is Draft no. 18 which shows that the text has undergone a rigorous process of development and testing. The Rules of…
Now that Italy has changed its mind and joined, Spain has become the only EU member state to stay out of the Unitary Patent (UP) system. How good or bad is this for the country and its companies? And will anything change because of the CJEU’s rejection of the Spanish complaints against the UP on…
On 13 October 2015, the Law Commission of the United Kingdom published the final report of the project to reform the law of unjustified (groundless) threats. The report is the culmination of years of work, which started in 2012. After a consultation round, a report was published in 2014 and 18 recommendations for reform were…
Draft rules for the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre (PMAC) of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will be discussed during the next meeting of the UPC Preparatory Committee on 19 October 2015. Together with these rules, a Memorandum of Operation will be introduced regarding the proposed legal and operational structure of the Centre. Sam Granata,…
Secessionist pressure grows in Catalonia, after regional elections on 27 September 2015 (qualified as an informal referendum on independence) were won by supporters of an independent Catalonia. In Scotland supporters of independence have been far from silenced since they lost a referendum on the same issue last year. Kluwer IP Law found the following article…
