Status of the Unitary Patent Court

Status of the Unitary Patent Court

At the beginning of 2017 the Preparatory Committee of the Unified Patent Court thought that it would be likely that the systems of the UPC would begin provisional operation before summer 2017 in advance of the UPC agreement coming into force later that year. It...
Unified Patent Court: Advice for Clients

Unified Patent Court: Advice for Clients

Introduction The European (EP) patent landscape is on the verge of the greatest change since the European Patent Convention entered into force in 1977 – the Unitary Patent Court (UPC) is about to open! A question mark over the involvement of the UK within the UPC...
The UPC looks set to open for business at Christmas

The UPC looks set to open for business at Christmas

The statement from the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Preparatory Committee indicating that they are currently working under the assumption that the UPC will become operational in December 2017 follows the shock announcement in November 2016 that the UK will proceed with...
UK exit from the EU

UK exit from the EU

The UK voted on 23 June 2016 to leave the EU. In the short term at least there will be no change with regards to any IP practice within Europe. Importantly no current rights will be lost and all rights, including patents and trade marks, will remain. Whatever the...
Unitary Patent Court – Fees Proposal

Unitary Patent Court – Fees Proposal

Introduction The Court costs for the Unified Patent Court seem significantly higher than those of the UK High Court, with the cost for actions for infringement at €11,000 and revocation actions (including counterclaims) at €20,000. In addition to this, for claims with...