On 22 and 23 February, the Unified
Patent Court (UPC) held its inaugural meetings of the Administrative and Budget
Committees. Delegates from contracting member states joined the hybrid event in
Luxembourg at the seat of the Court of Appeal and the Registry, with the EPO
participating as observer. The inaugural meetings follow the UPC’s Protocol on
Provisional Application entering into force and establishing the UPC as an
international organisation.
During the meeting, the Administrative
Committee adopted several secondary Rules and Regulations which will be vital
for the functioning of the UPC. These included its Rules of Procedure, Rules on
the European Patent Litigation Certificate, Service Regulations for the UPC
judges and its administrative staff, and Financial Regulations. The Budget
Committee on the other hand adopted the budget for
the period of provisional application of the UPC Agreement. The contracting member states also elected Alexander Ramsay
(SE), current chair of the Preparatory Committee, as the Administrative
Committee chair and Johannes Karcher (DE) as the deputy chair, as well as Bruno Leboullenger (FR) as chair and Theis Bødker Jensen
(DK) as the deputy chair of the Budget Committee.
The new chairs and several
delegations acknowledged the historical significance of these inaugural
meetings and reiterated that the UPC project has now entered its final
preparatory phase.
Following the events, the EPO
President António Campinos expressed his optimism: „The EPO very much welcomes
this step towards delivering the Unitary Patent Package. The Unitary Patent and
UPC will be the most important reforms of the European patent system since the signing
of the European Patent Convention.“