It is now almost a year since the new confidentiality regime for patent disputes in Germany entered into force. Since then, confidentiality requests have become a standard procedure in German patent litigation. Courts and counsel have translated the legal requirements into manageable routines. The Munich Regional Court even published guidance on how to proceed with…
In June 2022 the EPO announced the project “Bringing Teams Together”, introducing a new management of office space with the aim “to ensure that teams cluster in our buildings when working on site”. The project proved to be a bit challenging since the EPO management simultaneously intended to empty the Pschorrhöfe 1-4 buildings that had…
For privacy and security reasons, the Unified Patent Court has temporarily deactivated a CMS functionality linked to the opt-out procedure. The UPC reported today that in the week preceding the start of the sunrise period – which started 1 March 2023, ‘it became clear that the public API designed to retrieve public documentation from the…
February 1st, 2023, the French Supreme Court (“Cour de Cassation”) ascertained that during a saisie-contrefaçon trade secrets can only be protected by a temporary sequestration provided for in the order authorizing the saisie. Teoxane (“Teoxane”) is the owner of a European patent, the revocation of which Laboratoires Vivacy (“Vivacy”) sought by a summons filed on…
The Central Staff Committee of the European Patent Office supports the initiative of important European companies who’ve requested to do something about declining patent quality at the EPO. In a publication, the committee wrote it ‘is ready to contribute actively and constructively (…) respond to external criticism and put quality back on the EPO’s agenda’….
At 09:00 CET on 1 March 2023, the three month sunrise period for the Unified Patent Court began. Whilst it is still early days, insights can already be gleaned from opt out requests and UPC representative applications that have already been filed on the Case Management System. 199 patents and applications opted out
Although the sunrise period starts today, the UPC remains in the shadows for the moment. Thus, it seemed appropriate to me, in the meantime, to try to bring some light by interviewing 5 French judges who will participate in the new Court. Many thanks to the judges who accepted my invitation: Ms. Florence Butin (President…
The UPC has published practical information on the upcoming launch of the so-called Sunrise period. This 3-month period will start on 1 March 2023 at 9:00 CET. The court advises, among others, to inform the UPC, as far as possible, of the forecasted date of massive opt-out filings. Starting from 1 March 9:00 CET, it…
In June 2023 the European patent landscape will see one of the most dramatic changes in decades with the introduction of the Unitary Patent (UP) and the opening of Unified Patent Court (UPC). In a short series this blog will go through the main characteristics of the system and decisions that need to made to…
A number of recent decisions have highlighted the risks that can arise from the practice of supplying draft judgments to litigants and their advisers under an embargo. The courts have made it clear that a breach of embargo is to be treated seriously, and failure to comply with an embargo may result in proceedings for…
