At its meeting on 3 September 2015 the Preparatory Committee agreed the draft proposal for the Rules on the European Patent Litigation Certificate and other appropriate qualifications. Download PDF [Weiter...]
18th draft of the Rules of Procedure for the Unified Patent Court
A new 18th draft of the Rules of Procedure for the Unified Patent Court is now available and can be found here. The 18th draft may be subject to further change. It will still need to be finally adopted by the UPC Preparatory Committee. [Weiter...]
Select Commitee of the Administrative Council of the EPO adopts Fee Structure
The Select Committee of the Administrative Council of the EPO endorses the „True Top 4“ proposal for the annuity fees payable after the grant of a Unitary Patent in Europe. “True Top 4” refers to the four most commonly designated European Union Member States - these are Germany, France, the [Weiter...]
Initial Proposals for Court Fees and Recoverable Costs
The Preparatory Committee has made initial proposals for court fees and recoverable costs. For German plaintiffs, the proposals do not come as a surprise. Download PDF [Weiter...]
Unitary Patent and national law
With regard to unitary patents, national law often has to be applied to fill in the gaps the unitary patent regulation has left. If we take the EPO’s application figures since 2010 as a basis for the unitary patent, it can be predicted that German law will (partly) have to be applied to over 80% of [Weiter...]
Opt-out
Little has been discussed more in the drafting process than the possibility to exclude a patent or patent application from the entire package. The opt-out provisions to be observed are Articles 83 (3) and (4) and Rules 5.1 to 5.8. While on its face everything seems to be easy (“You file an opt- out [Weiter...]
The First Decision on the Unitary Patent: the Court Dismissed the Actions of Spain and Italy
Ulrich Blumenröder, Julia Peto, Munich (Joined Cases Kingdom of Spain and Italian Republic ./. Council of the European Union, Court (Grand Chamber), Judgment of 16 April 2013, C-274/11 and C-295/11) In this recent decision, the Court ruled upon the Council’s decision to authorise the enhanced [Weiter...]
Unified Patent Courts will hardly bifurcate proceedings
By Kluwer UPC News blogger, Kluwer Patent Blog "The possibility to bifurcate proceedings is a concern to many potential users of the future Unified Patent Court (UPC). Proceedings in Germany, in which infringement decisions may be rendered long before a judgment is given on the validity of a [Weiter...]
After 30 years: Finally true unitary European patent
Dr. Ulrich Blumenröder, LL.M. On June 29, 2012, it was “decided” by Merkel, Hollande and Cameron, even though not resolved, that the long discussed Community-/EU-/Unitary-patent will come into force in the guise of a traditional European patent as of January 1, 2014. Download PDF [Weiter...]