Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court - enforcement and forum shopping Gwilym Roberts, Kilburn & Strode LLP

Overview –Global harmonisation initiatives –Principles of PPH –Current reach of PPH –PPH flavours –European mechanisms for PPH –Effectiveness of PPH –Trends and Opportunities 2

Global Harmonisation Intiatives TopicUnder consideration?Body Grace PeriodYTegernsee Group* 18 month publicationYTegernsee Group* Prior user rightsYTegernsee Group* Conflicting applicationsYTegernsee Group* Inventive stepYWIPO SufficiencyYWIPO Unity of inventionYPHEP (EPO/SIPO) DivisionalsNIndustry request Claim StructureNIndustry request Multi-national inventorshipNIndustry request Definition of prior artNIndustry request NoveltyNIndustry request Citation of prior artYPHEP (KIPO/USPTO) Patent term adjustment Industry request Written descriptionYPHEP (JPO) Work-sharingY (active)PPH/GPPH/PCT-PPH ePCT (electronic interface to entire PCT international phase process) YWIPO Global Dossier (passive)Y (active)WIPO Global Dossier (active)Not yet…WIPO 3

Principles of PPH – "Mottainai" (a Japanese word meaning "a sense of regret concerning waste when the intrinsic value of an object or resource is not properly utilized")MottainaiJapanese –Office of First Filing (OFF) results used in Office of Second Filing (OSF) –If there is an allowed claim –And a corresponding claim –Acceleration –“Exploitation of existing results” –Not work-sharing 4

Current reach of PPH 5

PPH flavours –Bi-lateral or plurilateral –Original PPH –OFF/OSF –Mottainai PPH –OEE/OLE –IP5 PPH –EPO, USPTO, SIPO, JPO, KIPO –Global PPH –IP Australia (IP Australia), Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO), Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH), Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO), Icelandic Patent Office (IPO), Israel Patent Office (ILPO), Japan Patent Office (JPO), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), Nordic Patent Institute (NPI), Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO), Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (ROSPATENT), Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO), Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV), United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). –PCT-PPH –Use of PCT work products 6

European mechanism for PPH –EPO –IP5 + Mottainai + PCT-PPH –(UK)IPO –GPPH + Mottainai + PPH –Bilaterals: –German Patent Office (DMPA) –PPH original –SIPO –PPH original 7

Effectiveness of PPH –Positives –Free –Speedy –Efficient –Neutrals –Not guaranteed –Negatives –Confusing! –You may be bound to a narrow claim –Do you always want consistency? 8

Trends and Opportunities –Growth – especially GPPH –Well structured approach could bring big cost savings –Need to monitor Patent Office handling carefully –Some notably unenthusiastic offices… –…EPO –Here to stay –Back door to global harmonisation? 9

Any questions? 10