Managing IP is part of the Delinian Group, Delinian Limited, 8 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 00954730
Copyright © Delinian Limited and its affiliated companies 2023

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

MIP Spring PDF: uncertain future for UPC

cover-image-for-online-editorial-note.jpg

The Unified Patent Court takes centre stage in our latest PDF

Our latest quarterly PDF leads on the Unified Patent Court, a project that has been tantalisingly close for so long now that its launch still seems more like fiction than reality. However, as the new court really does appear to be on the path to creation – probably by early next year – intellectual property stakeholders are beginning to dust off their notebooks and revise what it all means for them.

The problem for those running the UPC is that any appetite for the new project and its associated unitary patent doesn’t appear to be healthy – at least from in-house counsel. There is marginally more desire from non-practising entities, but even they want to watch from the side-lines and see how things pan out before they act. In short, everyone is waiting for everyone else to make the first move.

This, I think, should worry those working to implement the UPC. A huge amount of time and resources have been focused on bringing the court to life. It has faced many twists and turns, not least a long-running constitutional saga in Germany. It will, unbelievably, be 10 years in February 2023 since the UPC Agreement was signed in Brussels. A decade on, the countries and authorities backing this new framework must be very careful that it doesn’t become a white elephant, because there is a risk of that happening – at least at first.

In the long term, I suspect, the UPC has a strong chance of becoming a hub for European patent litigation as companies become familiar with the new system. But there’s no telling how many years we will have to wait. In the meantime, the metaverse and blockchain are also hot topics in IP, as are diversity and inclusion and the America Invents Act – and you can read expert articles on these issues and many more in the following pages.

The crisis in Ukraine is also having a major impact on IP, with several law firms and IP offices cutting ties with Russia and the Russian government responding to sanctions by blithely removing core IP legal protection. We at Managing IP are watching with horror the suffering of the Ukrainian people amid the unconscionable invasion of their country. Although we and our parent company Euromoney Institutional Investor are stopping all business in Russia both with customers and with suppliers, Managing IP’s journalists are continuing to report on events as they pertain to IP.  

 

  

more from across site and ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Lawyers wish the latest manual had more details on Federal Circuit cases and that training materials for design patent examiners were online
Counsel are eying domestic industry, concurrent PTAB proceedings and heightened scrutiny of cases before institution
Jack Daniel’s has a good chance of winning its dispute over dog toys, but SCOTUS will still want to protect free speech, predict sources
AI users and lawyers discuss why the rulebook for registering AI-generated content may create problems and needs further work
We provide a rundown of Managing IP’s news and analysis coverage from the week, and review what’s been happening elsewhere in IP
A technical effect must still be evident in the original patent filing, the EBoA said in its G2/21 decision today, March 23
Brands should not be deterred from pursuing lookalike producers, and an unfair advantage claim could be the key, say Emma Teichmann and Geoff Steward at Stobbs
Justice Mellor’s highly anticipated ruling surprised SEP owners and reassured implementers that the UK may not be so hostile after all
The England and Wales High Court's judgment comes ahead of a separate hearing concerning one of the patents-in-suit at the EPO
While the rules allow foreign firms to open local offices and offer IP services, a ban on litigation and practising Indian law could mean little will change