The Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre (PMAC) forms part of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). Its rules of operation are available here. It operates independently, but carries out its tasks in close contact and cooperation with the committees/bodies of the UPC which will have to take decisions in relation to the operation of the Centre.
PMAC has its seats in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Lisbon, Portugal (as provided for under Article 35 UPC Agreement).
Mediation and arbitration proceedings can be held either at the seats or elsewhere.
ADR through PMAC can occur separately or in parallel with UPC proceedings.
The objective of the Centre is to promote ADR in cases which fall wholly or in part within the competence of the UPC. There needs to be connection with a patent dispute over which the UPC would have some element of jurisdiction (ie EPs or SPCs that have not been opted out, and UPs and their related SPCs) but "related disputes" also be included in the ADR, defined as “disputes involving other patents or patent applications or portfolios of the same, whether or not the patent rights in question are European patents, European patents with unitary effect or supplementary protection certificates or any other intellectual property or commercial disputes, provided that there is a factual, legal or commercial nexus with an actual or contemplated dispute concerning a European patent, a European patent with unitary effect, or a supplementary protection certificate for which the UPC is wholly or in part competent”. In essence, PMAC may be used where the parties' dispute concerns a patent (or related intellectual property or commercial matter) with a nexus to the UPC.
Read more on PMAC and the specific Arbitration and Mediation Rules here (and in the posts linked within that blog post).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
