We were extremely busy with European patent policy and education matters throughout the year. We were keen to promote UK activity at the new Unified Patent Court and the proposed changes to the qualifications required to enrol for the European Qualifying Examination to become a European Patent Attorney led to important partnership work with colleagues at the European Patent Institute (epi).
The European Union’s “patent package” sparked intense debate during 2024. The European Parliament approved reforms for Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs), aiming to introduce unitary SPCs and a centralised examination process. SPCs are a type of intellectual property right that extend the protection of patents for pharmaceutical and plant protection products. And a proposed Standard Essential Patent (SEP) regulation faced strong industry opposition, particularly from technology firms, over transparency and licensing rules.
CIPA Council had concerns over SEP and SPC regulation moving to the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), largely due to a lack of patent expertise at the EUIPO (which primarily handles trade marks and designs). The European Patent Office has established jurisprudence on patents, while the EUIPO has no experience. Council and other critics of the proposals felt this could lead to inconsistent decisions and legal uncertainty. There was also concern that the European patent system could become fragmented should EU and UPC caselaw diverge.
Matt Dixon and Deputy Chief Executive Neil Lampert went to Brussels in April to meet with a European Parliament IP political consultant to discuss the proposals and opportunities to influence the proposed legislation.
At this point it was feared too late to influence the SPC proposals due to legislative timetables and political pressure to come to a quick decision because of the relation of SPCs to the ongoing COVID vaccine licencing debate. The advice relating to SEPs was that the same political will did not exist and that there was time to influence this.
Council kept a watching brief on these proposals throughout the year. The SEP proposal would eventually be withdrawn, while the SPC proposals stalled due to a lack of consensus.
Past President Alicia Instone provided UK feedback when attending EPO Board of Appeal user group meetings and EPO Stakeholder Quality Assurance Panels (SQAPs).
Matt Dixon strengthened ties with our colleagues at the Irish Association of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys (APTMA) when he attended their annual dinner and spoke with APTMA President Hazel Tunney and her members.
CIPA maintains regular contact with European partner institutes through the biannual meetings of the Association of National Institutes of Intellectual Property Attorneys (‘ANIPA’) – the umbrella organisation for European national or regional institutes representing IP attorneys. CIPA provides secretariat support for ANIPA, this includes organising events, minuting of meetings, banking, and maintaining the website. In 2024, Past President Alicia Instone (accompanied by a member of staff) represented the Institute at meetings in Vilnius in April and Bratislava in November.