UPC NEWS – Unified Patent Court establishes first administrative body

The first organ of the Unified Patent Court has been constituted – with this, the court begins its administrative work. Germany now officially with four local chambers of the court. 

The administrative apparatus of the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) is rapidly taking shape. On 22 February 2022, the Administrative Committee of the EPC started its work in its constituent meeting as the first of three central supervisory committees. The first meeting also saw the appointment of the previous Chair of the EPC Preparatory Committee Alexander Ramsay (Sweden) as Chair and Johannes Karcher (Germany) as Vice-Chair.

In addition to the Administrative Committee’s own Rules of Procedure, other important legal regulations surrounding the EPC were adopted, such as the rules on the European “Litigation Certificate”, which governs the power of representation of European patent attorneys, as well as personnel and financial regulations of the new court. Some of the member states took the opportunity to officially confirm their local chambers, including Germany with a total of four local court locations.

The Administrative Committee also appointed the so-called “Advisory Committee” of the EPC. The Advisory Committee will support the recruitment of the judges of the EPC. The first interviews of the candidates are expected as early as the end of March. This means that the EPC’s legal capacity to work is within reach!

We will be pleased to answer your questions about the European Unitary Patent system at upc@boehmert.de!