A Practitioner's Guide to the Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent

This book provides practical and detailed account of all procedural aspects of the Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent system. The book also explains how the UPC works in the context of the wider European patent system, particularly the EPO and the UK. It considers how parties can use it to enforce or revoke European patents and the Unitary Patent, in particular: - The procedures of the UPC from initiating proceedings to appeal, damages and costs hearings; - Rules on competence, substantive law, jurisdiction, language and judges; - The operation of the system alongside the national courts of the contracting countries, the European Patent Office opposition and appeal procedure, and parallel English Patents Court proceedings. NEW TO THE 2ND EDITION: Additional chapters on the impact of the UPC and Unitary Patent on managing licences, and on confidentiality; coverage of the latest UPC guidance; references and case notes on every significant procedural case from the UPC divisions and the Court of Appeal; and coverage of every Rule of the Rules of Procedure. The book is written by a team of patent experts with many years of experience in patent litigation in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK, as well as hands-on experience of running cases in the UPC from its inception. It provides insights from national and UPC practice on the features above and identifies points of interpretation. A must read for private practitioners and in-house counsel.