Proceedings before the UPC are regulated by the UPCA and, more in detail, by the Rules of Procedure, which was adopted by the UPC Administrative Committee.
The UPC is competent to deal with infringements actions, revocation actions, actions for declaration of non-infringements, and related counterclaims. It is also competent to deal with actions for compensation for licenses ex Article 8 of the Regulation (EU) no. 1257/2012 and actions against decisions issued by the EPO in carrying out the tasks referred to in Article 9 of the Regulation (EU) no. 1257/2012.
Substantive proceedings before the Court of First Instance comprise the following stages: the written procedure, aimed at introducing the case; the interim procedure, aimed at managing the case and preparing the subsequent stage; the oral procedure, aimed at bringing the case to decision through an oral hearing.
A short description of the main activities related to each stage is contained in the table below.
Written procedure | It is started by the claimant by serving a statement of claim containing detailed information about the parties and the patent concerned, the remedies sought, as well as a complete description of any relevant fact, argument and evidence. |
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Interim procedure | It consists essentially of all necessary preparations for the oral hearing and may include an interim conference with the parties aimed, inter alia, to identify the main issues subject to dispute, clarify the position of the parties, explore the possibilities to settle the dispute and establish a schedule for the further progress of the proceedings. |
Oral procedure | It consists essentially of an oral hearing, aimed at hearing parties’ oral submissions, as well as witnesses and experts’ statements. Within six weeks from the oral hearing, the Court shall issue the decision on the merit. |
At any stage of the merit proceedings, as well as before its commencement, an application for provisional measures may be lodged by a party. Provisional measures are treated by way of summary proceedings which shall consist in a written procedure followed by an oral procedure. Provisional measures may be granted also inaudita altera parte.
At any stage of the proceedings, if the Court considers the dispute suitable for a settlement, it may propose that the parties make use of the facilities of the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre to settle or to explore a settlement of the dispute.
Both the determination of the amount of damages ordered for the successful party and the cost decision may be the subject of separate proceedings.
An appeal against a decision or an order issued by the Court of First Instance may be brought before the Court of Appeal by any party which has been unsuccessful, in whole or in part, in its submissions. The rules governing proceedings before the Court of Appeal are similar to those applicable to first instance proceedings.
Proceedings before the UPC local or regional divisions shall be carried out in the official European Union language which is the official language or one of the official languages of the Member State where the local division is located, or the official language(s) designated by Member States sharing a regional division. However, Member States may designate one or more of the EPO official languages as the language of proceedings of their local or regional divisions. Parties are also free to agree, with the consent of the Court, on the language of the patent as the language of the proceedings.
The language of proceedings at the central division shall be the language of the patent.
Unless differently agreed by the parties, proceedings before the Court of Appeal will be carried out in the language that was applicable in the first instance proceedings.
The Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal may, to the extent deemed appropriate, not require translations. However, where an action for infringement is brought before the central division, occurring certain circumstances, the defendant has the right to obtain, upon request, the translation of the relevant documents.
In any case, upon request of one of the parties, and to the extent deemed appropriate, the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal shall provide interpretation facilities to assist the parties concerned at oral proceedings.
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