On 20th November ZBM’s Montserrat Jané and Noemí Daviu held a workshop entitled ‘Are the Unitary Patent (UP) and the Unified Patent Patent Court (UPC) meeting expectations? A review after six months of operation’. This session, held in person in Madrid, is part of the University of Barcelona’s Patent Centre’s ‘Patent Mondays programme’, organised jointly with Spanish Patent and Trademark Office and is aimed at those from different backgrounds and levels of patent experience and to update professional knowledge. In their session Noemí and Montse reflected on the Unitary Patent (UP) and Unified Patent Court (UPC) and issues which have arisen during this fledgeling period, such as:

  • What changes does the UP involve and what do the statistics of the first months of operation indicate about the use of the new system.
  • Implications of the new UP system on patents as objects of property and on licensing agreements.
  • Centralized revocation before the UPC. Possible safeguards and the impact on oppositions before the EPO.
  • What are the upcoming changes to harmonize EU regulations with the new UP system.
  • Provisional and final distribution of cases in the Central Division after the designation of Milan as the third seat
  • Quick review of exceptions to the jurisdiction of the UPC: parallel jurisdiction with national courts and opt-out
  • Statistics of opt-outs and cases filed with the UPC so far.
  • The first decisions of the UPC: some lessons learned on injunctive relief and other procedural aspects.

Noemí and Montserrat are partners at ZBM, they hold an MSc in Chemistry and a Diploma in Patent litigation in Europe (CEIPI) which gives them the right to represent clients before the Unified Patent Court. They are both Qualified European Patent Attorneys and have many years of hands-on experience in the IP field, meaning they are well placed to field questions regarding legal and corporate issues.