Most of the EU member state-countries have already signed on to ratify the Unified Patent Court agreement and only a few more states are left before this thing becomes reality. Rumor has it that Germany and the UK are already inking up and the UPC will be up and running by 2017.

A Unified Patent System for Europe

The project is an ambitious one which aims to inject some uniformity into the G8 countries. The EU Unitary Patent and the launch of its court will have jurisdiction over 420 million people, creating a system that rivals America.

The Opinion of One Patent Litigator

Christian Paul, an attorney with Jones Day offered his opinion to Inside Counsel and underscored the significance of the new court. According to his remarks, it seems that he is convinced that in-house firms will have to beef up their overall competence and breadth of knowledge of case law.

European Forum Shopping

Currently, the language of the UPC laws allow local judges significant wiggle room as to how they handle their proceedings. Different judges from different locales (and indeed, different languages) will most likely tend to interpret certain rules more in line with local custom. In-house attorneys should keep in mind that certain courts within the UPC could spring up as being “patent friendly” and be the situs of European forum shopping.

Let’s not point any fingers. It’s not as if Americans have never seen this before.

Related Resources:

  • The EU Patent and UPC Will be Global Game-Changers (IAM)
  • OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Loses at the Federal Circuit (FindLaw’s U.S. Federal Circuit Blog)
  • Are You a Trademark Bully? (FindLaw’s In-House)
  • Yahoo Sued Over Its Employee Ranking System, Mass Layoffs (FindLaw’s In-House)

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