14 March 2014Patents

UPC judges training centre opens in Budapest

The training centre for judges who will work at the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has opened in Budapest.

Launched yesterday, March 13, the centre will be based in government offices in the Hungarian capital.

The opening coincided with a two-day conference to discuss the centre, along with the unitary patent and UPC more generally.

A list of prospective judges has been drawn up, but none has been selected yet.

Zoltán Cséfalvay, minister of state of Hungary’s Ministry for National Economy, said EU member states participating in the unitary patent system had “unanimously” decided that judges should be trained in Budapest.

The UPC will consist of a Court of First Instance, a Court of Appeal and a Registry. The Court of First Instance will comprise a central division, based in Paris but with specialised seats in London and Munich, as well as local and regional divisions.

Legally-qualified judges and in some cases technically-qualified judges will oversee disputes.

One of the most urgent tasks before the UPC can launch is to select them. A working group has nominated some candidates, but the preparatory committee, which is responsible for setting up the UPC, has yet to approve them.

Once the judges are appointed, EU member states with more experience in patent litigation will provide professional training for judges from other member states.

In his keynote speech at the conference in Budapest, Paul van Beukering, chairman of the UPC preparatory committee, said: “If we want the UPC to be among the best patent courts in the world, we need the best judges we can get. They are the most important asset of the court. To achieve that, training is essential.”

Benoît Battistelli, president of the European Patent Office, said the opening of the training centre is “another step forward in putting in place a unified patent litigation system”.

The UPC was signed by 25 EU member states in February 2013. It must be ratified by at least 13 states, including France, Germany and the UK, to enter into force, and is expected to launch in 2015.

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