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

Tuesday, September 01, 2015 Location selected for London branch of Unified Patent Court

Aldgate Tower, the new location of the London part of the Unified Patent Court

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the UK reports that they have selected a location for the London section of the Unified Patent Court. The new court will be located in Aldgate Tower in London. 

At a recent unitary patent conference the UK informed that they would complete ratification of the unified patent court agreement by spring 2016. I interpret this announcement of a location as a confirmation that indeed the preparations for the unified patent court are continuing in the UK. There has been uncertainty on the UK's position on the unitary patent because of its current ambivalence towards the EU.  However, at present there seems to be no indication that the preparations of the UK for the unitary patent are anything different than planned.

The unified patent court has a rather complicated structure. In addition to local and regional divisions, the unified patent court will also have a central division. The central division of the Unified Patent Court will have its seat in Paris, with sections in London and Munich. The local division of UK will also be located in Aldgate Tower.

The central division will have sole jurisdiction for a number of actions. For example, direct actions for revocation of a patent shall be brought before the central division. The cases are divided over the three sections of the central division based on the subject matter of the case. For London these are Chemistry, metallurgy and Human necessities.

IPO Minister, Baroness Neville-Rolfe said today:

"The signing of this lease represents a milestone in the UK’s preparations for the introduction of the Unified Patent Court. Aldgate Tower, with its superb central location, will provide an ideal home for a modern court to support the UK’s and Europe’s leading edge innovative companies. This will further strengthen UK’s legal and professional services sector, and reinforce London’s status as a world leading centre for dispute resolution."

Photo "Aldgate Tower - London" by Jim Linwood obtained via Flickr under a CC-By license. The photo has been cropped.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015 Netherlands making plans for local division unified patent court

I've just heard that the Dutch government has decided to have a local division of the unified patent court in the Netherlands. 


About two months ago an Internet consultation was started on proposed revisions to the Dutch patent law. The revision of the patent law would be adopted together with ratification of the Agreement on a unified patent court by the Netherlands. The Internet consultation did not give any indication whether or not the Netherlands would have its own local division of the unified patent court. 

Until now, there seemed to be a real possibility that the Netherlands would not have its own court. This would mean that all unitary patent disputes involving Dutch companies would go to foreign courts. Moreover, in due course, after the transitory period all European patent disputes would be handled by the unified patent court. 


In an interview with the Dutch newspaper 'Financieele Dagblad' of June 1, 2015, Hoyng a leading Dutch patent litigator remarked about the lack of a Dutch local division

That is very disappointing. The Netherlands should be leading with a European patent court, especially now we are always boasting about innovation. Germany is already busy promoting its court. We are in danger of losing the battle.

However, it seems now that the Dutch government will have a local division after all. I think this is good news. Although any one of the divisions of the unified patent court can rule over infringement in the Netherlands (as long as jurisdiction rules are satisfied) it is still good if local companies, especially smaller companies, have easier access to a judge when there is local infringement.


Foto "court of justice" van Edwin van Buuringen verkregen via Flickr onder een CC-By 2.0 licentie  (foto is ongewijzigd).