UPC draft rules open for public comment
IP practitioners have been urged to comment on the draft rules of procedure for the Unified Patent Court (UPC), which will accompany the Unitary Patent system.
The rules, which were published on June 25 and are open for comment until October 1, were drafted by judges, lawyers and industry representatives.
In a statement on the UPC website, the preparatory committee, which is responsible for setting up the UPC, said users, practitioners and other interested parties “are warmly invited” to comment on the draft rules.
Only comments sent to a dedicated email address - secretariat@unified-patent-court.org – will be considered by the preparatory committee, which is chaired by Paul van Beukering, manager of the IP unit at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.
When the consultation period closes in October, the preparatory committee will ask the drafting committee to evaluate the comments and make some proposals. A public hearing on the rules will be held in early 2014.
Once established, the rules must be approved by the UPC’s administrative committee.
The team that drafted the rules includes Winfried Tilmann, of counsel at Hogan Lovells LLP in Düsseldorf, and Justice Floyd, a judge at the UK Court of Appeal.
