Readers are familiar with the story of the founding of the UPC, which “obliged” its founders to make it an ad hoc Court, not integrated into the European judicial system (with a reinforced cooperation agreement between the members of the UPC). The fragility of this system has provoked much criticism (e.g., our comments here). The intervention of the Court of Justice, which is always possible at the margins (when the UPCA must be read in the light of the European Treaties), may come sooner than expected, as one author had already predicted on this Blog (see here). In any case, the European prin ..read more

Becoming a European Patent Attorney is no trivial task. Candidates need to have a scientific or technical degree, work in one of the EPC member states and spend years on practical training to join our profession. After all this, they still need to pass the European Qualifying Examination (EQE) – arguably one of the hardest professional exams out there. Preparing for the EQE is a daunting task on its own (it’s dangerous to go alone – take your trusted Visser with you!), but the next few years of the exam are set to be even more challenging than usual. The EQE will go through a transition phase ..read more

On 17 April 2024, the Court of Appeal of the UPC handed down its decision concerning the language of proceedings in the (undoubtedly ground-breaking) case of Curio Bioscience v 10x Genomics. Curio had applied in January to have the language of proceedings changed from German to English, but their application was rejected in February at first instance by the Düsseldorf Local Division. The Court of Appeal overruled the first-instance court, holding that it had not taken into account all relevant circumstances under Article 49(5) UPCA. Presiding Judge Rian Kalden, together with legally qualified ..read more

In Belgium, descriptive seizures (called “saisie-description” in Belgium) are long-standing ex parte procedures to collect evidence of infringement. When a Court grants a saisie request, the said authorisation can later be opposed by the seized party. The seized party can in particular argue that IP right invoked was not prima facie valid. By the time a decision is issued in the procedure launched by the seized party (and in the potential subsequent appeal procedures), the right holder may already have been given access to the report describing the evidence collected or the report may have bee ..read more

It is well known that the EPO Boards of Appeal take a strict line on admissibility of new elements of the appeal case under Articles 12 and 13 RPBA. But if the request to hold new elements inadmissible is itself filed late, the admissibility of the inadmissibility request may be questioned, see e.g. T 500/16 reason 6.2. And why stop there? Discussion of the inadmissibility of a request to hold inadmissible a request to hold a new element inadmissible is not unheard of. If all this is making your head spin, then help may be at hand with T 1006/21. While mainly focussing on admissibility of req ..read more

There are now three interesting developments, albeit in quite different areas, which have in common the effort to avoid stepping on banana skins on the path towards a more unified patent system. The first one, published last week, was a decision by the Court of Appeal (CoA) itself, which took the opportunity to clarify that a three member panel consisting only of legally qualified judges neither contravenes Art 9(1) UPCA nor violates Art 6 of the European Human Rights Convention (EHRC). Why was this an issue? Because Art. 9(1) UPCA reads as follows: Any panel of the Court of Appeal shall sit ..read more

As of December 1st, 2023, Brazil is leading G20, wherein one of the three priorities to be addressed is tackling climate change, with a focus on energy transition, in addition to promoting sustainable development in its economic, social and environmental dimensions[1]. At this same date, the BRPTO launched a new commission, namely: sustainability and biotechnology commission (COSBIO), which will deal, among other things, with the Green Patents Program, which focuses in expediting the examination of patent applications related to environmentally friendly inventions and consequently encouraging ..read more

In a revocation action the patent may be amended by the patent proprietor. According to Rule 30 RoP this should be done with an application; for subsequent amendments the explicit approval of the court should be sought. In the present case the patent proprietor tried to introduce amendments that had also been filed in another UPC proceeding and also requested the joining of these cases. Case date: 27 February 2024 Case number: CFI 255/20237184/2024 Court: UPC Central Division of the Court of First Instance Paris A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law More fro ..read more

Introduction It is common for parties to English patent litigation to settle their differences after the first instance judgment on the merits from the Court.  This is for several reasons including the thoroughness of the Patents Court Judges, the Court of Appeal’s approach to issues such as obviousness (where only an error of principle will be overturned) and finally the cost both to winner and loser in terms of money and management time. Settlement agreements between parties often provide for a “no-challenge” clause pursuant to which the parties agree not to contest the validity of each ..read more

On December 30, 2023, the Brazilian government, through Provisional Measure No. 1.205/2023, announced the national program “Mobilidade Verde e Inovação – Green Mobility and Innovation” (MOVER), with the objective of expanding the sustainability requirements for automobiles and stimulating the development of new technologies in the areas of mobility and logistics. The program, conceived by the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC), will promote the expansion of investments in energy efficiency, include minimum recycling limits in vehicle manufacturing and charge ..read more