WIPR survey: Readers confident in UPC despite Brexit vote
WIPR readers agree that the Unified Patent Court (UPC) system will be implemented despite the recent Brexit vote.
On October 17, the UPC preparatory committee decided to postpone the recruitment of UPC judges, in light of Brexit.
Responding to our latest survey, 53% of readers said that despite the uncertainty surrounding the UPC following the vote, the court would go ahead. However, 47% of readers said the UPC system would not be implemented.
The split closely mirrored the actual Brexit vote, which saw the UK decide to leave the EU by 52% to 48%.
The case against
One reader said: “The UPC Agreement will have to be renegotiated due to Brexit, which appears to be mission impossible due to the changed political climate and lack of cooperative spirit in the EU.”
Someone else added: “There have been too many hurdles so far and, no doubt, there will be further. That’s all because of the tricky method they took to bring this creature to life.”
Another said: “Without the UK, it seems rather pointless, and the UK cannot join without either accepting EU law and the Court of Justice of the European Union (which makes a nonsense of Brexit) or a complete overhaul of the UPC system (which will be prohibitively complex and time-consuming).”
“Not in its present form,” they added.
One reader simply said “no”.
Another added that “there will always be something that causes uncertainty”, with someone else stating that the UPC’s implementation is now “legally impossible”.
One reader said: “Not with the UK as a member in its present form. The UK government is not going to sanction the supremacy of union law, references to the CJEU and damages for breach of union law. Union law is more significant in the realms of patents than many imagine.”
Another reader said: “Despite the relentless lobbying stemming exclusively from very large businesses and the organisations involved in setting up the unitary patent, the current UK government simply will not sign up to any new agreement that gives the CJEU supremacy over UK courts.
“Any future UPC will not involve the UK and so will require an entirely new legal framework. I sincerely doubt there is the political will to make that happen.”
One reader explained: “There are no political conditions for UK to ratify this treaty (even if amended). There is a need to think of an alternative system, but for the time being (next five or six years) there will be other political priorities.
“The UPC does not seem sufficiently attractive (and hence it is economically risky) without the UK,” they added.
A more positive outlook
Other readers were confident that the UPC system would be implemented, despite the uncertainty following the Brexit vote.
“One day it will come—in an amended form, with or without the UK, but it will come,” they explained.
One said “in 2017”.
Another added: “Without doubt, the UK is one of the ‘core countries’ of the UPC Agreement. After Brexit there will be no room for a central division court in London. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense for the UK to ratify the agreement or to further ‘finalise’ the London court in the remaining time they stay an EU member state.
“It will happen eventually, but not any time soon. Maybe in three to five years’ time, hopefully with the UK on board,” they added.
For this week's survey, we ask: Last week we reported that a lawyer speaking at the AIPLA 2016 Annual Meeting said US patent decisions in the software and biotechnology fields will “eventually breach the economy and our quality of life". Do you agree?
