Comments on the Preliminary Set of Provisions for the Rules of Procedure of the European Unified Patent Court

Abstract

This is my response to the public consultation on the rules of procedure (the 15th draft) for the European Unified Patent Court (UPC) that the UPC Committee conducted between June and September 2013. The focus is put on constitutional implications and conflicts of interests.The key points are: a) lack of a reliable impact assessment study; b) the scope of UPC’s judicial competence in light of Article 345 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU and member states’ sovereignty to determine proprietary rights; c) language discrimination as a barrier to the internal market (i.e. freedom to provide legal services); d) violation of national and European human rights guarantees, on the grounds of bifurcation and language discrimination; e) conflict of interests surrounding the Committee of the UPC Rules of Procedures and the criteria for the selection of UPC judges.

Keywords: SMEs, Unitary patent, UPC, intellectual property, EU Law, Article 345 TFEU, public law, right to property, discrimination, bifurcation, fair trial, ECHR, EU Charter of fundamental rights, transparency, lobbying

JEL Classification: H89, J71, J78, K19, K20, K23, K29, K33, K39, K49