http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2023/06/unified-patent-court-reallocation-of.html
As anticipated by The IPKat here, Italy, France and Germany have reached an
agreement on the creation of the Milan
seat of Central Division to replace the former London section.
agreement on the creation of the Milan
seat of Central Division to replace the former London section.
On 26 June 2023, the Administrative Committee of
the Unified Patent Court issued the decision under Article 87(2) UPCA to amend Article
7 (2) UPCA as follows:
the Unified Patent Court issued the decision under Article 87(2) UPCA to amend Article
7 (2) UPCA as follows:
“2. The central division shall have its seat
in Paris, with sections in Milan and Munich. The cases before the central
division shall be distributed in accordance with Annex II, which shall form an
integral part of this Agreement.”
The competences of the former London section (indicated
below in bold for easy reference) have been reallocated to the Paris seat and
to the two sections of the Central Division as follows, thus by amending Annex
II of the UPCA:
MILAN SECTION: (A) Human necessities,
without Supplementary protection certificates;
PARIS SEAT: (B) Performing operations,
transporting(D) Textiles, paper(E) Fixed constructions (G) Physics (H)
Electricity, Supplementary protection certificates;
MUNICH SECTION: (C) Chemistry,
metallurgy, without Supplementary protection certificates (F) Mechanical
engineering, lighting, heating, weapons, blasting.
The review of the implementation of this
decision will be launched in 3 years after its adoption, thus in advance of the
general term of 7 years for the review of the Agreement as per Article 87(1).
The amendment of the UPCA was undertaken through
the simplified revision procedure under Article 87(2), which allows the
Administrative Committee to amend the agreement to bring it into line with an
international treaty relating to patents or Union Law. The withdrawal of the
United Kingdom from European Union and consequently from the UPCA constitutes a
change in Union law.
The decision entered into force on the date of
its adoption (26 June 2023) but according to Article 87(3) of the Agreement it
will take effect 12 months after that date (26 June 2024). This is intended to allow
a Contracting Member State to declare if it does not wish to be bound by the
decision. Nevertheless, preparatory work will start immediately.
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