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统一专利法院诉讼
统一专利法院（UPC）为专利持有人提供了一个新的机会来获得泛欧洲的专利侵权救济。同样，在欧洲专利局9个月的异议期之后，统一专利法院也提供了一种新的机制撤销统一欧洲专利。
尽管英国不属于统一专利法院的管辖范围，但作为欧洲专利律师，我们的团队有能力在这个新的法院代表当事人。这使我们处于一个独特的地位，能够管理英国和统一专利法院的诉讼行动，为英国和欧盟的争端解决提供协调有效的方法。
基于我们在欧洲专利局异议诉讼中的丰富经验，施利希团队有能力在统一专利法院可能的各种诉讼、侵权、撤销和非侵权声明诉讼中，提出一应俱全的诉讼服务。对于专利持有人来说，由于需要在多个司法管辖区发起和协调不同的诉讼，欧洲各地的传统诉讼既昂贵又复杂。统一专利法院极大地简化了事务，所有参与的欧盟成员国只需要一个诉讼，从而使欧洲专利的实施费用大幅增加。
统一专利法院还为那些希望对已授予的欧洲专利的有效性提出质疑的人增加了可用的工具箱。在这里，我们能够利用统一专利法院诉讼与其他类型的诉讼相辅相成，包括欧洲专利局的异议诉讼和英国知识产权局的意见服务，以便最大限度地提高实现运营自由的前景。
尽管统一专利法院是解决专利纠纷的新体制，但基于我们在欧洲专利局（EPO）诉讼事务中的丰富经验，我们已经做好了适应这一新制度的充分准备。这些经验使我们处于最佳位置，可以在统一专利法院的各种诉讼中采取行动，包括侵权、撤销和非侵权行动声明。我们的团队习惯于处理高价值且复杂的诉讼，并一直在寻找创新的方式来提供全面明确的战略建议。
近期案例解析
阅读来自施利希团队最近与统一专利法院诉讼相关的案例解析和统一专利法院的最新动态。
UPC Court of Appeal Shifts Focus to Germany
We recently reported on the UPC’s decision to hear the Nokia v Mala case, regardless of parallel German proceedings pending for the same patent. Interestingly, the UPC Court of Appeal has reacted quickly with a different view. This update is reported here.
Your Court or Mine? UPC takes home advantage
Nokia filed two separate revocation actions challenging Mala’s EP 2 044 709 patent, valid only in Germany. The first was filed on 29 April 2021 in the German Federal Patent Court but was unsuccessful, as the patent was upheld (appeal pending). The second was filed on 15 December 2023 in the Unified Patent Court (UPC). This article focuses on Mala’s objection to the UPC's jurisdiction, in which they argued that since a revocation action was already ongoing in Germany, the UPC should reject Nokia’s action as inadmissible.
First Revocation Decision of the UPC Confirms the European Approach to Antibody Inventions
This case represents the first revocation issued by the UPC and so gives several useful insights into the way in which the court will apply the law.
Romania to Join the UPC
On 31 May 2024, the Romanian government deposited its instrument of ratification of the UPC Agreement with the Council of the European Union, meaning that Romania will become the 18th member of the Unitary Patent System on 1 September 2024. Thus, those validating their European patents with unitary effect are advised to request a delay to registration of their unitary patents to ensure Romania is covered.
Gaining access to documents filed in a UPC action
All decisions and orders of the UPC are published on the UPC website. Registered representatives can also see, via the Case Management System, all documents that have been filed on a specific action. Gaining access to these documents themselves such that the content can be reviewed is however more difficult and third parties wishing to gain such access must submit a reasoned request pursuant to Rule 262.1(b) of the Rules of Procedure. How such requests are currently being dealt with by the UPC is the subject of the presently discussed decision.
UPC Court of Appeal Suggests the Description is Relevant to Deciding Whether Certain Embodiments Are Excluded from the Scope of the Claims
The question of whether and to what extent the description should be used to interpret the claims of a patent is a disputed topic in patent law, with there being a need to construe the claims as they are written whilst also reading them in the context of the patent as a whole. In its first substantive decision, the UPC’s Court of Appeal suggests the description can be used to decide whether arguably impractical embodiments are excluded from the scope of the claims.
The UPC have been Quick to Issue their First Preliminary Injunction
One of the first preliminary injunctions was issued by the Unified Patent Court on 22 June 2023. The decision was made ex parte and, remarkably, on the same day as the application for an injunction was filed by the proprietor, despite the respondent’s efforts to avoid the issue of an injunction by filing a protective letter.
Today’s The Day – The UPC Has Opened!
After several years of delays, formalities, constitutional disputes, and doubts in the minds of many as to whether the European Union’s new Unified Patent Court would ever open for business, this new court has finally opened its doors and will start taking cases from today.
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