Professor Sir Robin Jacob interviewed by patent blog on the UPC and EPO

Professor Sir Robin Jacob was interviewed by the Kluwer Patent Law blog about the relationship between the European Patent Office (EPO) and the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) following IBIL's Annual Innovation Lecture, held at the UCL Faculty of Laws on 29 November 2023.

In June 2023, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) opened its doors for the first time, offering streamlined enforcement of Unitary Patents. At the same time, an alternative to central post-grant opposition at the European Patent Office (EPO) became available. UPC revocation actions can be brought against Unitary Patents (UP) and European Patents (EP) that have not been opted out of the UPC’s jurisdiction.

The Annual Lecture - entitled EPO and UPC: Friends or Foes -  discussed the factors which might influence a party's choice of forum when wishing to challenge a European patent, when facing the option of EPO opposition proceedings or a UPC central revocation actions. The interview in the Kluwer Patent Law blog with Professor Sir Robin Jacob, discusses some of the pros and cons of each course of action.

The interview also touches on the possibility that that UK might one day rejoin the unified patent system, which the UK originally ratified, but then withdrew from following Brexit. Professor Jacob explains:

You don’t have to be an EU member. You have to accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in case where a point of European law arises. But there aren’t many points of EU law in patent cases. Sometimes there are competition law defences, and there are points on the Enforcement Directive, which was basically copied from English law, so there’s nothing in it which is difficult as far as the Brits are concerned. The Directive took all the best bits of English procedural law.

More information

• Read the interview here
• Watch a recording of the Annual Innovation Lecture on our YouTube channel here.