On the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA), the IP Federation has responded to the consultation on the proposals by the Legal Working Group of the Preparatory Committee on the draft European Patent Litigation Certificate (EPLC) closing on 25 July 2014.
The members of the IP Federation ask the Preparatory Committee to consider and adopt the attached comments on the draft rules concerning representation under Article 48(2). Adequate representation is a fundamental need of all users before any court, and an important factor in choosing whether to use any litigation forum.
In particular, we favour the addition of a permanent further category under rule 11, stipulating that the grant of litigation or, at the very least, the grant of advocacy rights on patent matters before a national court or courts of a Contracting Member State having jurisdiction over infringement and validity is an appropriate additional qualification under Article 48(2); and that the courses intended for acceptance under the transitional provisions of rule 12 should be listed, together with specification of the relevant competences and skills which they bring in order to be qualifying.
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