Discover UPC insights
Each month, our UPC experts delve into the Unified Patent Court, to unpack key insights from what's been happening at the UPC, and share their findings.
In this special edition of UPC Unpacked, we break down the hot topics from our recent 'Unpacking the UPC: Expert insights and lessons learnt' webinar, that took place on 11 September.
Hosted by Sanjeet Plaha, UPC representatives Matthew Howell and Greg Ward, together with IP litigation specialist Jamie Rowlands, discussed recurring themes they've identified from delving into decided cases and examining the approaches taken by the UPC, as well as lessons learnt from these cases and their own experiences.
Efficiency in the UPC
What are the pitfalls and when might it work in your favour?
In this section of the webinar, Jamie Rowlands covered efficiency in the UPC, looking at four main areas:
- The geographical reach of the UPC,
- Speed of the UPC proceedings,
- Case management powers of UPC, and
- Preliminary injunctions at the UPC.
In the preview below, Jamie explores some of the case statistics at the First Instance Court since 1 June 2023.
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Added subject matter
What does the UPC's approach mean for you?
Next, Greg Ward looked at added subject matter and the EPO 'Gold Standard' approach, and gave a brief review of four recent decisions and orders that provide potentially useful insights into how the UPC has been handling added subject matter.
- Abbott Diabetes Care v SibioTechnology et al
- Dexcom Inc. v Abbott Laboratories et al
- MerilGmbH and MerilLife Sciences Pvt Ltd vs Edwards Lifesciences Corporation
- Bitzer Electronics A/S vs Carrier Corporation
Here is Greg explaining what added subject matter is and how it is assessed.
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Inventive step
How is the UPC assessing inventive step?
Finally, Matthew Howell considered how the UPC approaches the assessment of inventive step. Matthew delved into a number of first decisions from the UPC, to see how different divisions have approach inventive step and what the common themes are. The first decisions include:
- NanoString vs 10X Genomics UPC CoA (Preliminary Injunction)
- Franz Kaldewei vs Bette Düsseldorf LD (Infringement Action)
- Dexcom vs Abbot Paris LD (Infringement Action)
- Sanofi vs Amgen Munich CD (Revocation Action)
- Meril vs Edwards Paris CD (Revocation Action)
- Bitzer vs Carrier Paris CD (Revocation Action)
- Avago vs Tesla Hamburg LD (Infringement Action)
Here is Matthew talking through some of the recurring themes from these decisions.
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Full webinar access
Unpacking the UPC: Expert insights and lessons learnt
Listen to our team of UPC experts as they share their insights on the Unified Patent Court and practical tips they've gleaned through their own first hand experience of the Court. They give pointers on:
- The need for efficiency in the UPC – what are the pitfalls and when might it work in your favour?
- Added subject matter – what does the UPC's approach mean for you?
- How is the UPC assessing inventive step?
- Do the Local Divisions share a common approach or could there be conflicting decisions?
- Perspectives on recent decisions – what do they mean for future cases?
- UPC litigation preparation – top tips
Request the full recording here.
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.
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.
