EU Unified Patent Court: Another Update

On October 19, 2011, the Polish EU Presidency has issued Document 15539/11 titled Draft agreement on a Unified Patent Court and draft Statute – Revised Presidency text. Changes in relation to the previous as provided with the version as of Document 15289/11 are marked. The provisions in italics marked with square brackets are still being developed as their final version depends either on the drafting technique to be adopted or on the content of the planned Commission proposal on changes to the acquis communitaire itself. Articles 14b and 14c now read:

Article 14b
Requests for preliminary rulings

(1) As a court common to the Contracting Member States and part of their judicial system, the Court shall cooperate with the Court of Justice of the European Union to ensure the proper application and uniform interpretation of Union law, as any national court, in accordance with Article 267 of the TFEU in particular. Decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union shall be binding on the Court.
(2) For the purposes of Article 267 of the TFEU, the Court of Appeal shall be considered a court against whose decisions there is no judicial remedy.

Article 14c
Liability for damage caused by infringements of Union law

(1) [...]
(2) Any action seeking compensation for such damage shall be brought against the Contracting Member State where the claimant has his residence or principal place of business before the competent authority of that Contracting Member State. Where the claimant does not have his residence or principal place of business in a Contracting Member State, he may bring such an action against the Contracting Member State where the Court of Appeal has its seat, before the competent authority of that Contracting Member State. The competent authority shall apply the lex fori, with the exception of its private international law, to all questions not regulated by Union law or by this Agreement. The claimant is entitled to obtain the entire amount of damages awarded by the competent authority from the Contracting Member State against which the action was brought.
(3) [...]

There are further amendments in Document 15539/11 which appear to be of some more technical nature. See also my earlier postings here and there.