Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 April 2013
273. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the implications that a unified patent court will have on patent law here; if any offices or branches of the courts and arbitration centres will be based here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20013/13]
View answerThe Agreement on the Unified Patent Court (UPC) was signed in February this year by twenty-five Member States, including Ireland. Work is now advancing on the next stage to allow for ratification of the Agreement. In Ireland’s case, a Referendum is required to be carried to allow for the transfer of limited jurisdictional powers to the Unified Patent Court relating solely to patent disputes. In advance of ratification, significant preparatory work is necessary which is expected to take up to eighteen months to complete. This work includes setting the Rules of Procedure of the Court, selection and training of Judges, setting up an ICT system to provide for case management at the Court etc.
The UPC will not impact on substantive patent law in Ireland or on the operation of the Courts in Ireland which will continue to play a role in the determination of patent- related disputes that come before the Irish Courts.
When operational, the UPC will provide a system of arbitration for patent-related disputes. This will be in relation to European patents that are granted as at present by the European Patent Office in Munich and, patents that will be granted under the new unitary patent regime. The unitary patent will provide a new option for Irish business to protect their patents in a cost effective manner by filing a single application and thereby obtain patent protection in the territories of the 25 participating States (with the exception, thus far, of Spain and Italy). The unitary patent and the UPC are interlinked in that both will enter into effect simultaneously.
The Agreement on the UPC provides that it will comprise of a Court of First Instance and a Court of Appeal. The Court of First Instance will be made up of three divisions namely: the central division, local divisions and possible regional divisions. The Court of Appeal is to be located in Luxembourg and will also serve as the Court Registry.
1) Central division: The Central Division of the Patent Court will be located in Paris. Two specialist sub-divisional courts will be established, one in London for cases involving ‘chemistry patents’ (including pharmaceutical products) and the other in Munich for mechanical engineering cases.
2) Local division: It is possible under the Agreement for each contracting State to set up a local division.
3) Regional division: The option also exists under the Agreement to form a regional division i.e. where two or more contracting states would join together to function as a local division for participating countries.
Thus, Contracting States will have the option to set up a local division of the Court, join a possible regional division or, confer jurisdiction on the central division of the Court alone. All States intending to ratify the UPC Agreement will need to decide, in advance of ratification, on the particular Court structure that it proposes to adopt. As Ireland’s participation in the UPC arrangement raises issues that fall within the remit of jurisdictional arrangements in the Courts area generally and thus are of interest to my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality, my Department is in contact with that Department on this issue.
In relation to arbitration and mediation under the UPC Agreement, Lisbon and Ljubljana will host Patent Arbitration and Mediation Centres.
