UPC addresses sunrise period problems with new guidance
Court provides fixes to problems with its CMS | Answers common questions about country abbreviations, authentication, entitlement errors | Over 1,800 opt-out applications have been filed.
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) has released new information and guidance on its case management system (CMS) which has handled thousands of applications in the first three weeks of the system’s sunrise period.
The three-month sunrise period began on March 1 and gives patent owners the chance to opt their patents out of the court’s jurisdiction before it opens in June. In the first three weeks, to March 23, the UPC received around 1,800 opt-out applications and approximately 1,500 applications to register as a representative before the court.
With so many requests and questions about the new system, the UPC has produced a document summing up the most common issues. There have been some “technical difficulties”, the court said, and a large number of inquiries to its service desk.
Opting out patents
The court said that a late change to its API (application programming interface)—designed to retrieve public documents from the CMS—meant that the “get document” functionality was temporarily impaired. However, a solution went live on March 21 and no further changes were foreseen to the API, said the court.
The UPC also provided guidance on filling in the country abbreviation section of the opt-out form, and how to file a declaration under Rule 5, paragraph 3 (e) RoP, which needs to be done “by on behalf of the proprietor(s), independent of information in relevant national patent registers”, according to the registrar.
Questions had been asked regarding how the court will eventually interpret the articles of the UPC agreement or secondary legislation, the UPC said, but stressed that the registry was unable to provide advice or a substantial response on such matters.
Applications to become a representative
Regarding applications to become a representative to the court, the UPC addressed a technical problem with the CMS which meant that staff could not access some early applications to approve them, resulting in delays.
However, this has now been solved, effective from March 21, and staff are working to examine all pending applications.
In its new document, the UPC also highlighted the need for people to access its CMS using a strong authentication system (a card or USB device). Individuals accessing the CMS using someone else’s device would not fulfil this identification requirement and would need to apply again using their own strong authentication device.
Applicants had also been sometimes choosing the wrong entitlement, the UPC said, by selecting “Article 48(2), Patent Attorney with EPLC [European Patent Ligitation Certificate]—EPLC Decision Rule 1” instead of “Article 48(2), Patent Attorney with EPLC—EPLC Decision Rule 12”.
The “Rule 1” option was not yet possible as there are not yet any formally approved EPLC courses, the registrar said. However, the UPC emphasised that no individual action was needed on this and the registry would correct any wrong choices and register the application under the correct entitlement.
The full document containing the UPC guidance can be found here.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox
Today’s top stories
Digital and clean-energy tech drives record growth in patent filings at EPO
Cross-border IP developments between Hong Kong and mainland China
