We can now look back on a quite successful first year of the new European patent and court system. Now well into its second year, the Unitary Patent (UP) continues to grow in popularity and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) is proving itself to be a truly pan-European court. Both the UP and the UPC are increasingly appreciated by users across all technology areas. The Court is clearly making its mark in terms of speed and efficiency. Several UPC divisions have already signaled how they intend to handle key issues such as claim interpretation, the “same invention test” for claiming a priority right, and assessment of inventive step. Regarding chemistry and pharma, activity before the UPC was sluggish in year one, although it ranked first in terms of value in dispute. But this now looks set to change.
In this article published in the AIPLA Chemical Practice Chronicles Newsletter, Dr. Ulrike Herr and Heike Röder-Hitschke provide some facts and figures and look at the trends vis-à-vis the UP and the UPC, the latter focused on revocation actions.
