Law in the Global Marketplace: Intellectual Property and Related Issues Hosted by: Status of the Unified Patent Court

A Unified Patent Court UPCA – Unified Patent Court Agreement –International Agreement establishing a Unified Patent Court (UPC) and a Court Statute (2012) –Entry into force requires ratification of at least 13 participating member states including Germany, France and UK (approx ) –8 ratifications as of October 2015: Austria, France, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Malta, Luxemburg and Portugal Rules on jurisdiction in the EU amended (January 2015) –Amendments to Regulation (EU) No. 1215/2012 (Brussels I) on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters 2

Latest news I Protocol to the UPCA on provisional application (1 st October 2015) –Need to provide a smooth transition into the operational phase and ensure the proper functioning of the UPC before entry into force of the UPCA –The provisional application phase will notably be used to allow for early registration of opt-out demands –Final decisions on the practical set up of the UPC will be taken and implemented (e.g. IT system of the UPC; recruitment of Judges) 3

Latest news II Rules of Procedure of the Unified Patent Court (19 October 2015)… –18th draft version available –Preparatory Committee adopted these Rules of Procedure of the UPC … Awaiting results on the public consultation on costs (Spring 2016) –On 8 May 2015 Preparatory Committee offered scenarios for UPC costs and counsel fee reimbursement scheme –Public consultation closed 31 July 2015 –Results from the public consultation are awaited Likely effective starting date of the new system: April

One Patent Court System Maximum of 28 participating EU- Member States Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Sweden: already ratified Poland: consented to UPR only Spain: does not participate Croatia: participation is open, as it became EU-Member after signing of the UPCA 5