Legal Commentary

31 October 2022 by Mathieu Klos

"The UPC will succeed if its part-time judges have space to grow"

Although the final list of 85 UPC judges has largely gone down well in the patent community, some individuals are questioning the independence of the ...

19 October 2022 by Mathieu Klos

UPC Administrative Committee publishes final judges list

The UPC Administrative Committee has announced the total list of its 85 judges, including 34 legally qualified and 51 technically qualified individual ...

12 October 2022 by Konstanze Richter

Long read

Dissatisfied industry users push back against EPO quality measures

For years, the patent community has debated the level of quality of the patents granted by the EPO. Although the office is making continual efforts to ...

UPC: How are damages dealt with

One of the main benefits of the Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) is that proceedings no longer have to be fragmented/divided across Europe (if the proceed ...

21 October 2022 by Simmons & Simmons LLP

8 September 2022 by Konstanze Richter

"CureVac and Moderna might be filing patent suits – but their brakes are firmly on"

The honeymoon period is over. While patent lawsuits over COVID-19 vaccines were still taboo at the height of the pandemic, Moderna and CureVac are now ...

17 August 2022 by Mathieu Klos

"One year since the new German patent law, the injunction remains the same"

For exactly a year, the new German patent law has sought to provide exceptions for automatic injunctions in patent disputes. But, as the recent harsh ...

Final UPC Rules of Procedure approved – with some important changes

The UPC’s Rules of Procedure have gone through many interactions since the first draft in 2009. The last – 18th! – draft dated from 2017. Further amen ...

18 July 2022 by Simmons & Simmons LLP

19 July 2022 by Amy Sandys

Long read

UPC Rules of Procedure amendments focus on opt-out and privacy

The UPC Administrative Committee has confirmed the updated Rules of Procedure, which provide the backbone for governance of the supranational court. T ...

1 July 2022 by Amy Sandys

UPC member states to vote on full access to judgments

On 8 July, the UPC Administrative Committee will vote on the final draft of the Rules of Procedure, proposing public access to all judgments and order ...

30 June 2022 by Amy Sandys

Ireland's government commits to UPC referendum

The Irish government has reaffirmed its commitment to participating in the Unified Patent Court, announcing it will hold a referendum in 2023 or 2024 ...

27 May 2022 by Mathieu Klos

"The automatic injunction lives, but the hardship provision is not dead"

The Regional Court Munich has found that Ford infringed an LTE patent owned by IP Bridge. The ruling, which led to an injunction and recall of all LTE ...

3 May 2022 by Konstanze Richter

"The CJEU has clarified PI case law for Europe's judges"

The CJEU has spoken. Civil courts in Europe can impose a preliminary injunction in the event of patent infringement, even if the patent-in-suit is not ...

27 April 2022 by Mathieu Klos

"UPC member states must commit to maximum transparency of judgments"

The rules are changing for the publication of Unified Patent Court decisions, causing alarm among users that important UPC judgments might not be publ ...

12 April 2022 by Amy Sandys

Ukraine conflict

EPO deepens ongoing support for Ukraine

The EPO has frozen its cooperation with both the Russian patent office and the Eurasian Patent Organisation as a response to Russia's invasion of Ukra ...

22 February 2022 by Amy Sandys

Anti-suit injunctions

EU launches WTO case against China over telecommunication patents

The EU is alleging that Chinese courts are blocking European telecommunication companies from protecting their SEPs at foreign courts. As a result, it ...

8 February 2022 by Amy Sandys

Video hearings

Boards of Appeal decisions first to apply G 1/21 guidelines

The EPO Boards of Appeal have released two decisions applying the principles underlined by G 1/21 regarding compulsory video conferencing. The develop ...