15. June 2023
FUTURE OF THE UPC CENTRAL DIVISION WILL BE AGAIN THREEFOLD
Italy, France, and Germany have recently reached a consensus on the redistribution of competences that were previously assigned to London within the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The tripartite discussions concluded with an agreement, which was presented during a meeting of the Administrative Committee on June 2, 2023. With London's role becoming obsolete after Brexit, the proposed amendment to the Agreement aims to reallocate responsibilities among the three primary seats of the UPC central division.
According to the proposed changes:
• Milan will assume jurisdiction over IPC Section A patents, which encompass human necessities;
• Munich will take charge of IPC Section C patents, which include fields like chemistry and metallurgy.
• Paris will be entrusted with the responsibility of handling Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) related to Sections A and C.
Member States will meet again on June 26, 2023 for reaching a final decision which will then come into effect within 12 months.
Meanwhile, the allocation of cases to the Paris seat and Munich section will be provisionally governed as decided by the Presidium on May 8, 2023.
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