The UPC is one step closer

The Unified Patent Court has moved another step nearer opening its doors. At a meeting on 8 July 2022 the UPC’s Administrative Committee confirmed the set-up of local and regional divisions of the Court of First Instance.

These divisions will be located in:

• Austria (Vienna)
• Belgium (Brussels)
• Demark (Copenhagen)
• Finland (Helsinki)
• France (Paris)
• Germany (Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Mannheim, Munich)
• Italy (Milan)
• The Netherlands (The Hague)
• Slovenia (Ljubljana)
• Portugal (Lisbon)

The regional Nordic-Baltic division will be mainly located in Sweden (Stockholm). The UPC’s Patent Mediation and Arbitration centre will be set up with seats in Ljubljana and Lisbon.

The Court’s Rules of Procedure and its Table of Fees will enter into force on 1 September 2022.

A list of candidates to be appointed as judges was presented to the committee and is expected to be adopted before the summer break.

The Court is expected to open early in 2023.  There was no indication as to when the Court’s IT system will go live, though a date in the autumn appears likely, shortly before the sunrise period begins.  Until the IT goes live, European Patent Attorneys cannot officially register on the list of representatives.

CIPA Litigation Committee Chair, Matthew Critten, said, “The Court has moved still closer towards becoming reality.  We are only a few months away from the start of the sunrise period.  Firms across the UK are completing their preparations to be ready to represent clients in litigation at the UPC as soon as it opens its doors.”

Date published: 18 July 2022