Draft rules on Expert Determination of the UPC’s PMAC

On 22 September 2025, the UPC Committee submitted CIPA’s response to the public consultation on draft rules on Expert Determination of the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre (‘PMAC’) of the Unified Patent Court. This was published in the October 2025 journal but is also set out below.

CIPA’s overarching view is that rules of this sort should not be overly prescriptive. We are mindful that, for example, parties may have a pre-existing agreement determining that the dispute will be submitted to expert determination, or may have agreed ad hoc that this is to be done. In either case, it is generally for the expert to decide what he or she requires from the Parties insofar as their agreement does not address this As such, a set of administrative rules are sufficient to deal with the process for seeking and arranging the expert determination. Anything further should be left as matters for the parties and the expert to determine.

We have three observations on the draft rules:

1. Although the draft rules are perhaps more detailed than is strictly necessary for a procedure over which the parties and experts are intended to agree, for the most part, they appear to comply with the principles set out above.
2. However, these principles must be kept in mind in relation to any proposed revisions.
3. Articles 15 (except for 15.1) and 17 appear overly prescriptive. Article 15 should allow for agreement to the contrary by the parties, e.g. to vary timing to account for complexity and circumstances and article 17 should be redrafted as a model procedure that the parties may agree to adopt (or not) or vary as appropriate for the matter in question.