12th Dec 2023
In the November 2023 issue of the European Patent Office (EPO) Official Journal, the EPO has confirmed that it will accelerate “parallel opposition proceedings” in the interest of “legal certainty and procedural efficiency, as well as high quality and uniformity in the European patent system”.
2nd Nov 2023
It has been five months since the Unified Patent Court opened its doors. Although the number of substantive actions filed at the new court is not quite what some commentators initially expected, there have been a steady number of actions filed by parties from all over the world across a wide range of technologies.
21st Jul 2023
This article will focus on the filing of third party observations before the European Patent Office (EPO) and include some insights based on our experience of the use of third party observations.
13th Jul 2023
The start of the Unified Patent Court shows that, as expected, Munich is the venue of choice for UPC patent litigation and in particular patent owner plaintiffs. Following the transfer of two revocation actions from Paris, there are now nine UPC cases pending before the two UPC divisions in Munich, fifteen before the UPC divisions in Germany, two before the Nordic-Baltic regional division and one in Milan. Thus, case filings heavily concentrate on Munich, with the remainder scattered across Europe or the remaining German local divisions Hamburg and Düsseldorf.
1st Jun 2023
It is finally here. Ten years after the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court was signed, and after a flurry of last minute opt-outs at the end of the sunrise period, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has now entered into force.
30th May 2023
With the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) opening its doors on 1 June 2023, we take a look at what to expect if you are involved in proceedings before the UPC.
26th May 2023
Rebekah Vardy is reported to have registered the trade mark WAGATHA CHRISTIE, causing quite a stir and a lot of commentary because this is the press-given nickname of her arch-nemesis Coleen Rooney.
18th Apr 2023
Almost all EPO opposition hearings are now conducted by videoconference (VICO). VICO opposition hearings have been very successful and are no doubt here to stay. In general, the EPO will insist that opposition hearings are carried out by VICO unless there are exceptional reasons for an in-person hearing. Only two VICO hearings have been changed from VICO to be in-person in the last three years.