The Milan section of the Central Division of the Unified Patent Court opened its doors in Via San Barnaba 50, one year after the opening of the Italian Local Division.
The one-year delay has been due to the impasse determined by Brexit and by the fact that amendment of article 7(2) of the UPC, which originally assigned the competence to Paris, Munich and London was adopted on 26 June 2023, with the disposal entering into force one year later.
In the meantime, actions pending before the Central Division concerning IPC Section A patents were to be assigned to the Paris Branch and actions concerning IPC Section C patents were to be assigned to the Munich Branch.
Amended Article 7(2) UPCA, literally replaces London with Milan. However, amended Annex II indicates that the competences of the former London section were reallocated, so that cases related to patents in IPC section A (human necessities) were assigned to the Milan section and cases related to patents in IPC section C (chemistry, metallurgy) were assigned to the Munich section, while the Paris seat acquired exclusive competence on the supplementary protection certificates.
In practice, the Milan UPC Central division will have jurisdiction over patent disputes in IPC class A: the “human necessities” sector, including pharmaceutical and medical devices, agriculture, food, tobacco, home appliances, clothing, wood and furniture, fire-fighting, and the sports and gaming/ entertainment industry, but excluding patents involving supplementary protection certificates (SPCs).
The UPC Central Divisions in addition to validity and non-infringement cases may directly handle infringement cases in the following circumstances:
- The parties agree to bring the case before Central Division
- The defendant does not have a residence or place of business in any of the UPC Agreement’s participating Member States
- The UPC Member State does not have a local Division or does not participate to a Regional Division like Romania that recently ratified the agreement and will join the group of the initial 17 member states on 1 September.
We send good wishes to Andrea Postiglione (IT), Anna-Lena Klein (DE) and Marije Knijff (NL) who were appointed by the Administrative Committee as Judges of the Milan Section of the Central Division and all the staff of the new section.
FICPI's view and involvement
FICPI uniquely combines education and advocacy on topics around patents and trade marks, with a focus on developing the professional excellence of its individual members. FICPI Forums, Congress, committees and meetings are opportunities to gather insights from the international IP attorney community on any issue, whether it be practice-related or topics of patent and trade mark law.
Next steps
- Events such as FICPI’s 2024 Open Forum (25-28 September, Madrid) offer the opportunity to attend technical sessions, and to meet and further discussions in congenial surroundings.
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Image: Courtesy of https://www.unified-patent-court.org/en/news/opening-milan-it-section-central-division