UP and UPC are about to happen (again)
Many have cried wolf in the last five years, but now it is time to take it seriously – the Unitary Patent (UP) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) system is coming. It seemed a distant and long road to reality, but now, all of a sudden, it has entered the provisional phase after a sufficient number of countries have deposited ratifications (Austria being the latest).
This means that parts of the UPC Agreement have come into force ahead of the new system becoming fully operational. This effectively means that the court could be up and running by September 2022 at the earliest, but early 2023 seems a more realistic guess. What will happen now is that the court system needs to recruit necessary staff and judges. It is also likely that several remaining issues in the system and national legislation will need to be addressed. After that, the court will need to find things to do. To start with, the court’s main focus will most likely be to hear disputes regarding any patents granted by the EPO (unless those patents have been opted out) and the EPO will start granting unitary patents.
As the dawn of the system inevitably moves ever closer it seems necessary to remind all stakeholders to consider what relationship they would like to have with the UPC and what that means for the future. As it will be possible to opt in or out from different parts of the system, seems likely that patentees will need to carefully consider and strategically prepare for the opt-out process sometime in the next eight to twelve months, especially considering the importance of the choice. This naturally raises several issues regarding which parts patent holders opt-in to or out from. Several important questions remain to be solved and we will focus on some of these issues over the coming months.
Regardless of what decision you as a stakeholder will take in your relationship to the UP and the UPC, Gulliksson and Ström & Gulliksson are up to the task to help you along the way. Gulliksson and Ström & Gulliksson with top tier patent litigators and top tier patent attorneys under the same roof and with its roots in Sweden and the greater Copenhagen region, are uniquely well suited to help clients navigate in the new landscape and provide advice on short- and long-term strategy, including assessing the merits of opting-out certain patents from the jurisdiction of the UPC in favour of litigation before the national courts in Europe. Once the system is fully operational, naturally our joint resources can help you to obtain UPs using the existing EPO procedure and enforce their patents across Europe in the UPC. Already today we have unique insights in what it is like to litigate in the UPC system, since one of Gulliksson’s litigators Magnus Dahlman has participated in the first mock trial before the Nordic Baltic regional division.
In the coming months we will focus on the UPC and publish articles on various topics relating to the new system and issues in the rules of procedure which will affect the decision whether to opt in or out. Considering the complexity of the system, we would also be happy to meet up and discuss our views on strategy and our unique experiences of what it is like to litigate under the UPC rules.
Stay tuned.
The Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court
Joint expertise and resources to help you navigate in the new system and choose the right strategy.
As a client you will benefit from our long-standing collaboration with Advokatbyrån Gulliksson, one of the leading law firms in Sweden within intellectual property and commercial law. We jointly, and successfully, represent clients in national and international patent proceedings. With our top tier patent litigators and top tier patent attorneys you will reap considerable strategic and competitive benefits.
Welcome to contact us to find out more about the UP and the UPC:
Björn Andersson
bjorn.andersson@sg.se
Magnus Berglund
magnus.berglund@sg.se
Albin Persson
albin.persson@sg.se
Rikard Roos
rikard.roos@sg.se
Sofia Willquist
sofia.willquist@sg.se