EU Unified Patent Court: Preparatory Committee To Start Work Soon

With Document 7265/13 dated March 08, 2013, the Irish EU Presidency has published some information concerning setting up of the Preparatory Committee in the context of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court. A meeting of the Friends of the Presidency group (Patents; see Document CM 1560/13) was convened on  February 27, 2013, with the objective of both hearing and considering delegations’ views on how this Preparatory Committee could be organised. According to the recently published Document, a clear consensus emerged from the Signatory States endorsing a non-paper circulated by The Netherlands and Sweden, including the proposal that the work be driven by the Member States, and thus outside the framework of existing institutional structures. In this latter respect, a number of Signatory States offered to put their resources – human and/or logistical – at the service of the Preparatory Committee once it begins its work. The European Commission offered its expertise, as and when requested by the Preparatory Committee.

Now, the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) is invited to take note:

• of the agreed position of the Signatory States regarding the Preparatory Committee of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, as set out in the paper contained in the Annex to Document 7265/13 and in the cover note thereof;
• of the intention of the Presidency to convene the inaugural meeting of the Preparatory Committee on 26 March 2013 in Brussels; and
• that Council, at the appropriate level, will be kept informed of progress of the work of the Preparatory Committee when needed.

A list of four main tasks to be elaborated in groups with project teams can be identified:

• Legal framework,
• Financial aspects,
• IT & Facilities, and
• Human resources & Training.

According to Annex I of the Annex to Document 7265/13, the Preparatory Committee should ensure appropriate involvement of and regular contacts with interested circles. Proposals and other documents which have reached an appropriate stage should be made available to the public, unless the Preparatory Committee decides otherwise in a particular case. The Preparatory Committee should when needed hold consultations with interested circles (in particular judges, industry representatives, lawyers, patent attorneys and other interested parties). The first issue on which the users need to be consulted by the Preparatory Committee are the draft rules of procedure. Furthermore, signatory States may of their own motion hold consultations at national level. Finally, the Preparatory Committee should decide on the admittance of observers to its meetings.

The preliminary list of tasks currently is detailed as follows:

Area 1. Legal framework

Proposals should be prepared for:

• Rules relating to the procedures before the UPC
  • Rules of Procedure of the UPC
  • Rules governing the Registry and the sub-registries
  • Rules governing the Registrar’s service
• Rules on legal aid.
• Rules on court fees.
• Rules of Procedure of the Administrative, Budget and Advisory Committees
• Rules relating to mediation and arbitration
• Rules on the litigation certificate for patent attorneys.

Area 2. Financial aspects

Proposals should be prepared for the

• level of Court fees
• level of legal aid
• schedule for Member States’ proportional contribution to a Member State that has paid damages to a party in case of violation of Union law by the UPC
• Financial Regulations
• first budget of the UPC
• salary schemes of the Presidents (CoA, CFI), the judges (including part-time judges),
• the Registrar and Deputy-Registrar and staff of the UPC and
• pension arrangements and social security schemes.

Area 3. IT and Facilities

Software should be developed and tested with a view to

• set up an electronic filing & case management system which must
  • be fully accessible on-line for judges and other staff of the UPC, and
  • enable secure exchange of documents and information both internally (between seats, sections, divisions, panels, judges and staff of the Registry and sub-registries) and
• externally (between the UPC and parties to proceedings, who should be able to file submissions and documents in electronic form),
• enable public on-line inspection of certain parts of the files and
• design a comprehensive court website.

Area 4. Human resources and training

As regards the training of judges, the Draft Declaration already provides that a training plan for judges must be set up as soon as possible by the Preparatory Committee. Later on, preparations should be made for setting up the permanent Training framework for Judges provided for by Article 19(1) UPC Agreement.

Preparations should in addition be made for the election of the members of the Advisory Committee and the selection of the first judges. Thoughts should also be given to the establishment of the “Pool of Judges” and the “regional list of judges”

Proposals for staff regulations of officials and other servants of the UPC should also be prepared.

Finally, preparations must be made for drawing up the following lists

• List of European Patent Attorneys entitled to represent parties before the Court.
• List of mediators and arbitrators
• List of experts

Concerning representation by patent attorneys, see our previous post here.

Concerning the IT system of the Court, see our previous post here.