On 27 April 2023, the European Commission unveiled its blueprint for patent legislative reform. The proposals focus on three key areas: standard essential patents (SEPs), supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) and a compulsory patent licensing scheme for crisis management. The EUIPO is at the centre of administering these proposed regimes. The proposals arise out of the Commission’s November 2022 IP Action Plan,[1] which aims to harmonise the approach to Intellectual Property law across EU Member States. The proposals are only the first step in the process and will now be considered and agreed by the Council of the European Union and European Parliament. [1] Commission adopts Action Plan on Intellectual Property

The Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) 316/2014 and the associated Guidelines (2014/C 89/03) have underpinned many technical IP licence agreements since they were introduced in 2014, building on many years’ experience of predecessor legislation dating back to 1985 with the first TTBER (2349/84) coming into force. For background, Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (the Treaty) prohibits agreements between undertakings that restrict competition unless they contribute to improving the production or distribution of goods or services or to promoting technical or economic progress while allowing consumers a fair share of the resulting benefits, in accordance with Article 101(3) of the Treaty. The TTBER and its associated Guidelines help provide business certainty by identifying when technology transfer agreements will not breach Article 101 restrictions (because the agreement is deemed not to restrict competition and therefore Article 101(1) will not apply), or because the agreement is deemed to provide objective efficiencies that are passed on to consumers and so meets the conditions of Article 101(3) of the Treaty. The TTBER and Guidelines provide further business certainty by identifying provisions in agreements that will or may raise Article 101 issues.

The past couple of years saw a great deal of activity concerning the planned revision of the EU designs system and the adjustment of design rights in the UK and the EU to the UK’s departure from the EU. The focus in 2022 has shifted to exploration of opportunities to improve the domestic UK design system. Early in the year, the UK IPO published a call for views on the current designs framework in the UK. The call for views covered both registered and unregistered rights, as well as the impact of new technologies and enforcement. The IP Federation submitted a written response  and has continued to engage with the UK IPO as it moves to the next phase of consultation.

The UK’s future regime for the exhaustion of intellectual property rights

It is an old joke, and a truism, in the IP community that thinking through the exhaustion of intellectual property rights (IPRs) is, well, exhausting. This is because the subject itself is so complex, the implications so far-reaching, and perspectives so diverse, that analysis and discussion can too easily descend down a metaphorical rabbit hole. It is unsurprising, then, that considering and responding in August 2021 to the UK government’s consultation on the UK’s future regime for the exhaustion of IPRs took up a great deal of time, thought and energy.

Report for the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) and the IP Federation The European Patent Convention and its Economic Impact on UK Innovation by Tony Clayton, former Chief Economist UK IPO As sent to Ms Amanda Solloway, IP Minister, and Mr Crawford Falconer, Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser and Second Permanent Secretary at the Department for International Trade, on 29 June 2020.

As in all recent years, the unitary patent and Unified Patent Court (UPC) dossier has been among the Federation’s highest priorities in the last 12 months, following the long-awaited agreement between the European Parliament and Council in late 2012 which resulted in the unitary patent and language Regulations being adopted in December 2012, and signature of the UPC Agreement on 19 February 2013.

The Federation continually engages with the European Patent Office (EPO) to provide input to consultations, on matters relating to implementing and on ancillary regulations to the European Patent Convention (EPC) and to procedures of the EPO. The Federation maintains ongoing working relationships with EPO representatives including meetings with the President and Directors throughout the year.

The Federation continually engages with the European Patent Office (EPO) to provide input to consultations on matters relating to implementing and ancillary regulations to the European Patent Convention (EPC) and to procedures of the EPO. The Federation maintains ongoing working relationships with EPO representatives, including meetings with the President and Directors throughout the year.

As in all recent years, the unitary patent and Unified Patent Court (UPC) dossier has been among the Federation’s highest priorities in the last 12 months, following the long-awaited agreement between the European Parliament and Council in late 2012 which resulted in the unitary patent and language Regulations being adopted in December 2012, and signature of the UPC Agreement on 19 February 2013.

As in all recent years, the unitary patent and Unified Patent Court (UPC) dossier has been among the Federation’s highest priorities in the last 18 months, following the long-awaited agreement between the European Parliament and Council in late 2012 which resulted in the unitary patent and language Regulations being adopted in December 2012, and signature of the UPC Agreement on 19 February 2013.

The dossier continued to move forward smoothly during the first half of 2016, with first Finland, then Bulgaria, joining the list of countries which had ratified, bringing the total to 10 (one mandatory ratifying country, France, plus nine of the required 10 others). Addition­ally, steady progress was made in a number of other countries, notably including in both the two remaining mandatory ratification countries, the UK and Germany. Other important milestones included adoption of the rules on court fees (including the zero fee for the opt-out) and the handover of the IT system by the UK to the team in Luxembourg. Then came 23 June and the UK’s decision to leave the EU. This was of significance to the UPC project, of course, due to the widely held view that participation in the UPC was strictly limited to EU states.