The UPC functions with 105 in total perfectly qualified judges, with great expertise in patents. 37 of them are legally qualified judges and the remaining 68 are technically qualified judges. All the judges are nationals of the Contracting Member States and speak at least one official language of the […]
June 1st of 2023 the UPC opened its doors for the first time, after long-lasting negotiations among the EU-members and numerous dead-ends. As to the day of writing, more than 16.000 Unitary Patents have already been registered according to the EPO statistics center. Conflicts arising from any Unitary Patent […]
After plenty of difficulties and years of disagreement, the UPC opened its doors on 1st of June 2023, and it has more than 100 active cases already. Even though it seems like a successful start, many EU members are not members of the UPCA or the ratification of the […]
The Helsinki Division of the UPC recently decided upon the Supponor vs AIM Sport case, concerning patent used in advertising in football matches and declared itself as non-competent over this “classic” European Patent.
Pursuant to Article 83(3) UPCA, during the transitional period of six years the holders of a “classic” […]
The UPC has exclusive competence regarding any form of litigation of European Patents, Unified Patents and SPCs for products covered by these kinds of patents. A unitary patent can only be litigated before the UPC. Pursuant to Article 32 of the UPC Agreement can judge upon: Actions for infringements […]
Declarations of non-infringement
This type of declaration can be lodged separately or in conjunction with an action for revocation in the Central division. In order to be lodged separately, the proprietor or the licensee needs to have an already asserted patent infringement. Another circumstance is when the plaintiff requested […]
The jurisdiction of the Court covers both “classic” European patents and European patents with unitary effect (Unitary Patents), considering both infringement and revocation actions. Nevertheless, the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court regarding “classic” European patents is subject to exceptions during a transitional period of seven years. During this period, […]
The first oral proceedings on a preliminary injunction before the Vienna Local Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) took place today in front of a full house. The language of the proceedings was German.
The Dutch, German and Austrian judges dealt comprehensively and efficiently with all issues, from urgency […]
In April 2021, the Austrian Supreme Court referred two questions of principle to the CJEU concerning the activity of a satellite TV package provider (Austrian Supreme Court, 4Ob195/20k). On 22 September 2022, the Advocate General provided his opinion on the case.
The questions referred can be summarised as follows:
Is […]
Rainer Schultes, Alexander Schnider and Constantin Kletzer have contributed to the International Comparative Legal Guide – Patents 2023 first published by ICLG – Patents – Global Legal Group .
Download here