THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT AND ITS RULES OF PROCEDURE, BETWEEN EU AND NATIONAL LAWS AND JURISDICTION

Abstract

The EU Regulations Nos. 1257/2012 and 1260/2012 and the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (2013/C 175/01) established a new system of protection of patents in Europe with two pillars: a new patent having unitary effect, i.e. covering the territory of the EU members States that take part in the relevant enhanced cooperation (all of them apart from Spain) considered as a whole, and a Specialized unitary Court having competence all over Europe. As a result, while nowadays the judicial defence of patents in Europe must be managed on a state by state basis, what implies that the number of disputes can multiply thus increasing the risk of conflicting decisions, the new system will permit the patent owners to enforce their rights all over Europe, and likewise their competitors to challenge the validity of the relevant patents, through a single dispute. However the implementation of these brand new procedural rules, deriving from different juridical traditions, and the role of the EUCJ in assuring a consistent interpretation thereof will be a real challenge, especially during the transitory period, when the patent cases might still be brought before the national Courts as alternative forum to the Unified Patent Court.