A Practitioner's Guide to the Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent provides practical and detailed advice on all aspects of the system for those using it.
The book explains how the UPC system works in the context of the wider European patent system, including the UK, and how parties can use it to enforce or revoke European patents and the Unitary Patent, in particular:
- The procedures of the UPC from initiating proceedings to appeal, damages and costs hearings;
- Rules on competence, substantive law, jurisdiction, language and judges;
- The operation of the system alongside the national courts of the contracting countries, the European Patent Office opposition and appeal procedure, and parallel English Patents Court proceedings.
The book is written for private practitioners and in-house counsel by a team of patent experts with many years of experience in patent litigation in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. It provides insights from national approaches to the features above and gives answers to common problems.
Table of Contents
Introduction
PART I
THE STRUCTURE AND APPLICATION OF THE NEW SYSTEM
1. The Unitary Patent
2. Structure, Context and Competence
3. Decision Making
4. Sources of Law
5. Language
6. The Opt-out and Transitional Regime
7. Parallel Proceedings in the Contracting Member State Courts and the UPC
8. Parallel Proceedings: Th e Courts of England and Wales and the UPC
9. UPC Jurisdiction: Where to Bring the Claim
PART II
PROCEEDINGS IN THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT
10. Written Procedure: Infringement Actions
11. Written Procedure: Revocation Actions
12. Written Procedure: Declarations of Non-infringement and Actions against the EPO
13. The Interim Procedure and Case Management
14. Oral Procedure, Final Decision and Early Termination
15. Preliminary Injunctions and Other Provisional Measures
16. Obtaining and Using Evidence
17. Appeal
18. Final Remedies and Costs
19. Service and Miscellaneous Matters
20. Court Fees
