Thursday, January 21, 2016 Finland ratifies Unitary Patent

Finnish Parliament

Finland has fully ratified the 'Agreement on a Unified Patent Court' by depositing its instrument of ratification. By ratifying the agreement it will be possible to get protection for an invention through a unitary patent in Finland together with all other countries that have ratified the unitary patent. Moreover, the unified patent court will have jurisdiction to decide over both unitary patents but also 'classic' European patents that have been validated for Finland (unless opted-out).


The website of the Finish parliament shows two acts that are related to the Finish ratification, both from January 13, 2016.

23/2016
Laki patenttilain muuttamisesta, 13.1.2016

22/2016 Suomeksi På svenska
Laki yhdistetystä patenttituomioistuimesta tehdyn sopimuksen lainsäädännön alaan kuuluvien määräysten voimaansaattamisesta ja sopimuksen soveltamisesta , 13.1.2016


According to Google Translate these are an  'Act amending the Patents Act' and a 'Law on the unified patent court bringing into force the provisions pertaining to the law of the agreement and the application of the Agreement'. If Google Translate does not deceive me then the latter allows Finland to also sign the
Protocol on provisional application of the Unified Patent Court Agreement; Finland has not yet done so.


The full list of countries that have currently ratified the agreement is: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, and Finland. Including the mandatory countries United Kingdom and Germany, we are now two countries short of the set of 13 countries required for the unitary patent system to start.

I haven't seen heard if Finland has decided to have a local unified patent court.

 Photo "Kyösti Kallio and Parliament House of Finland" by Tomi Lattu via Flickr, under CC-BY-2.0 license

 

Thursday, November 12, 2015 Finland taking steps towards ratification--contours of the first 13 becoming visible?

Helsinki Cathedral

A unitary patent working group of the Finnish government has recommended that Finland's Parliament ratify the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court.

At present 8 states have fully ratified the agreement: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, and Sweden. At least 13 countries are required before the unitary patent takes effect, but ratification is expected from at least 5 more countries, e.g.: The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Hungary. Perhaps, we may now also add Finland to the list of countries likely to ratify in the near future.  This means we are getting a better and better idea what the first list of participating member states might look like.

The Finish working group also made a proposal on amendments of the Finish patent law. Presumably, Finland will handle the ratification and amendment together, e.g., as is also being done now in the Netherlands.

The news did not include confirmation that Finland will not participate in the Nordic-Baltic regional division of the UPC. Last year, the Nordic-Baltic regional division was announced with Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. According to the Finnish patent office, Finland is considering to set up a local division of its own, which would allow local patent disputes to be litigated in Finland rather than in Stockholm (Sweden).
  

The official report is here, which includes a brief English summary. English commentary from a Finish attorney can be found here.

Photo "Tuomiokirkko HDR" by Guyon Morée obtained via Flickr  under a  CC-By license