THE UPC IS COMING CLOSER

The Unified Patent Court (UPC), the proposed common patent court in the EU, is expected to become operational by the end of 2022.

• What are the advantages of the UPC? According to the latest news, companies should soon be able to protect their inventions more easily and more cheaply thanks to the EU unitary patent, the EU Commission announced. With the new EU Unified Patent, all this will change: the EU Unified Patent will only be valid in the EU member states, with one application for the EU. In fact, a EU unitary patent would simplify the application and validation of a patent throughout the EU. Ultimately, the costs of the single patent should also be lower than under the current system.

However, the jurisdiction for patent procedures is just as important for companies. This is because it is currently necessary to bring a possible patent infringement before a court in the country in which the patent was infringed. With the entry into force of the Unified Patent Court, this is to be different; Union law and the interpretative competence of the European Court of Justice would have priority. The UPC will provide an efficient forum for the enforcement of patents in Europe, ending the need for parallel litigation in different member states of the EU. It will also harmonize substantive patent law with regard to the scope and limitations of the rights conferred by the patent and the remedies for infringement.

Andreas Vogel – An equity partner and a co-founder of Bals & Vogel (Bochum/Munich), an IP law firm specializing in IP litigation and prosecution in Germany. Andreas studied Mechanical Engineering and Economics, and has more than 20 years’ experience as a patent attorney, during which he has successfully litigated/prosecuted a large number of patent cases. He has a broad experience in drafting patent applications and conducting grant proceedings. His technical specialties are: automotive engineering, optics, telecommunication, AI. He has wide-ranging expertise of IP due diligence and IP monetization on the basis of DIN77100. Further, he is a Member of Examination Committee III of the European Patent Office for the European Qualifying Examination (EQE) and Lecturer at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. He has obtained the European Patent Litigator qualification at Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Currently, he is giving numerous presentations on the Unified Patent Court nationally and internationally, including for SVIPLA in San Jose and LES Spain-Portugal.