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The Unified Patent Court
Information & guidance
The Unified Patent Court – what’s it all about?
In the future, an international court established by the EU member states – the Unified Patent Court, or EPC – will be responsible for questions of validity and infringement of European patents, including the new unitary patents. The aim is to increase legal certainty in the European area and to avoid time-consuming and costly proceedings in the respective member states.
But what is the structure and functioning of this new court? When does it have jurisdiction and when does it not? What are the enforcement options for rights holders or defense options for defendants?
Find out more about the new system in the following articles. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us personally!
The Unitary Patent Court
What you need to know!
Competence of the UPC
Special Edition UPC December 2022
In principle, from the entry into force of the agreement, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will have exclusive competence in civil proceedings relating to European patents, Unitary Patents, supplementary protection certificates for products protected by such patents and European patent applications. The…
Structure and functionality of the UPC
Special Edition UPC December 2022
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) consists of a Court of First Instance, a Court of Appeal and a Registry.
Court of First Instance
The Court of First Instance comprises a central chamber sitting in Paris and a division sitting in Munich, as well as several local and regional chambers. All the panels of…
Costs and reimbursement in the new UPC system
UPC Overview
The parties to a proceeding must pay court fees for the proceeding. These shall be paid in advance unless otherwise specified in the Rules of Procedure. If a party has not paid the prescribed court fees, it may be excluded from further participation in the proceedings. The court fees for proceedings…
Jurisdiction of the UPC
UPC Overview
With regard to jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), a distinction must be made between the international jurisdiction of the UPC, the subject-matter jurisdiction, the jurisdiction in relation to courts of Member States with regard to non-unitary European patents, and the jurisdiction of the…
Applicability and enforcement of decisions of the UPC
UPC Overview
Decisions of the UPC are directly applicable in all contracting member states. Decisions based on non-unitary European patents are of course only applicable in member states in which the patent is validated at the time of the decision. Still, in both cases, the territorial applicability goes beyond individual…
Forum Shopping
UPC Overview
In the context of actions for infringement before the Unified Patent Court (UPC), forum shopping means the possibility for a plaintiff to choose a particular division out of several competent divisions for his action.
Reasons for forum shopping
Reasons for choosing one division over another are based…
Provisional measures and orders
UPC Overview
In patent infringement proceedings before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) a claimant can, in particular, be awarded claims to injunction, information and damages as well as recall and destruction. However, the rules governing the UPC provide provisional measures and orders which can be applied for before…
UPC: Case management and proceedings
UPC Overview
The written procedure of the, in practice, most important proceedings, actions for infringement of patents together with counterclaims for revocation and applications to amend, is illustrated in the Rules of Procedure:
Graphic
The following additions should be noted:
Other…
UPC: Enforcement possibilities for right holders
UPC Overview
The UPC system offers a variety of enforcement measures, including the issuance of preliminary and permanent injunctions, damage awards and orders to render information and account. The following provides for a short overview of some o these available measures:
1. Injunctions
Where there is infringement,…
UPC: Defence possibilities for defendants
UPC Overview
1. Formal Grounds for Defence
As a formal ground for defence, defendant may challenge the jurisdiction and competence of the UPC, as the competence of the national courts continues to apply for all actions that are not listed in the UPC agreements, such as any actions based on opted-out EP patents.
2.…
