UPC arrives but not quite as we imagined
After decades of preparation, the Unified Patent Court is here – but not quite as we imagined it.
Managing IP attended the inauguration ceremony at the Hémicycle in Luxembourg on Tuesday, May 30.
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UPC chief urges EU to rethink SEP plan
The most senior judge of the Unified Patent Court has sharply criticised the European Commission’s draft standard-essential patent reforms.
Klaus Grabinski, chief judge of the UPC Court of Appeal, said he feared the draft SEP regulation, published last month, was not currently compliant with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
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Other articles published by Managing IP this week include:
UK practitioners welcome senior judge’s sharp words for KC
What IP counsel want from India’s digital law overhaul
Weekly take: Fake judgment row shouldn’t spark AI concern
A&O Shearman deal may be isolated case, say onlookers
Elsewhere in IP
First blood
Biotech company 10x Genomics was among the first to file a request for a preliminary injunction at the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) yesterday, June 1. The firm filed suits against rivals NanoString Technologies and Vizgen at the Munich local division.
Language expansion
Local divisions of the UPC in Germany, France, and Italy will offer to hear cases in English, it was confirmed yesterday, June 1. There had been calls for a language expansion from the legal sector in those countries, who argued that hearing cases in English would attract more litigants.
Irish drive
Powell Gilbert has launched a new office in Dublin to try and capture UPC-related work, the firm announced on Tuesday, May 30. Ireland has yet to ratify the UPC Agreement but has committed to holding the necessary referendum by the end of next year.
IT woes
Finally, in what has understandably been a busy UPC week, the new court was beset with more IT problems throughout its first day.
Court officials acknowledged yesterday that the case management (CMS) system had been slow and that it was difficult for users to access all of its functionalities.
But the CMS did not “cease to function” altogether and therefore all actions must continue to be filed electronically, officials said. The UPC clarified last week it would allow paper requests in the event the CMS wasn’t functional.
AI ban
A Texas federal judge will make lawyers swear they have not used artificial intelligence (AI) to draft filings without them being checked by a human. Judge Brantley Starr of the Northern District of Texas said AI platforms were not reliable and “make stuff up”.
Green transformation
China leads the way in green tech patents, the JPO found in a survey published on Tuesday, May 30.
The Green Transformation Technology Inventory covered patent information related to green technology.
Chinese applicants have held the largest number of patents worldwide, while Japanese applicants held the most international patent families.
South Korea-based LG owned more international families than any other individual company, the survey found.
Rouse hires
Rouse made two key leadership hires this week. Elle Shoben will be the new chief people officer and Jarron Stephens will serve as chief technology officer. Rouse CEO Luke Minford described the pair as “two mission-critical hires”. Rouse secured investment from private equity firm MML Capital in exchange for a substantial minority stake last year.
