ACCADEMIA DELL'UIBM INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO - LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY - Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi
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ACCADEMIA DELL’UIBM
INTRODUZIONE AL
PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
Ing. Carlo Luigi Iannone - Italian and European Patent Attorney
8 luglio 2022 © 2022 - Barzanò & Zanardo - Tutti i diritti riservatiINTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
Mandatario Italiano in Brevetti
- In Italia
o Procedura
o Controversie
Extragiudiziarie
Giudiziarie
• CTU – diritto di tribuna
• Consulente di Parte – nessun diritto di tribuna
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2INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
European Patent Attorney
o Procedura
o Opposizione
o Appello
Sempre diritto di tribuna (ma non si tratta di diritto di tribuna in senso stretto nelle
controversie che si tengono presso i singoli stati designati, ed in cui valgono le singole regole
nazionali)
Quali prerogative mantengono anche se non sono Qualified (anche Art 48.4)
Cosa si intende per Qualified European Patent Attorney
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3REQUISITI PER DIVENTARE Qualified European Patent Attorney
Sono previsti nelle Rules on the European Patent Litigation Certificate and other appropriate
qualifications
- La Rule 12 che dice che per un periodo transitorio di 1 anno dall’entrata in vigore
dell’UPCA, qualsiasi EPA che abbia completato con successo un corso incluso nella lista
secondo la Rule 12(1a), può dimostrare di avere “qualifiche appropriate”, e può richiedere
l’iscrizione alla Cancelleria dell’UPC nella lista dei representative secondo l’art. 48(2) UPCA.
- La richiesta verrà esaminata dalla cancelleria e, se rispetta i requisiti, l’EPA verrà iscritto
nella lista dei representative. Tale registrazione è permanente, finchè si è EPA. (Rules 14 -
16)Normativa di riferimento UPC
INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
- Agreement on UPC
- Representation
- Art 48
1) Parties shall be represented by lawyers authorised to practise before a court of a Contracting Member State.
2) Parties may alternatively be represented by European Patent Attorneys who are entitled to act as professional representativesbefore the
European Patent Office pursuant to Article 134 of the EPC and who have appropriate qualifications such as a European Patent Litigation
Certificate.
3) The requirements for qualifications pursuant to paragraph 2 shall be established by the Administrative Committee. A list of European Patent
Attorneys entitled to represent parties before the Court shall be kept by the Registrar.
4) Representatives of the parties may be assisted by patent attorneys, who shall be allowed to speak at hearings of the Court in accordance
with the Rules of Procedure.
5) Representatives of the parties shall enjoy the rights and immunities necessary for the independent exercise of their duties, including the
privilege from disclosure in proceedings before the Court in respect of communications between a representative and the party or any other
person, under the conditions laid down in the Rules of Procedure, unless such privilege is expressly waived by the party concerned.
6) Representatives of the parties shall be obliged not to misrepresent cases or facts before the Court either knowingly or with good reasons to
know.
7) Representation in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not be required in proceedings under Article 32(1)(i).
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6INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
Rules of procedures
Art 8
Rule 8 – Party and party’s representative
1. A party shall be represented in accordance with Article 48 of the Agreement unless otherwise provided by these Rules [Rules 5, 88.4 and 378.5].
2. For the purpose of all proceedings in relation to a patent, where these Rules provide that a party performs any act or that any act be performed upon a party that act shall be
performed by or upon the representative for the time being of the party.
3. Except where these Rules provide otherwise, a party shall not communicate with the Court without informing the other party. Where such communication is in writing, the
communication - 24 - should be copied to the other party unless these Rules provide that the Court will supply a copy to the other party.
4. For the purposes of proceedings under these Rules in relation to the proprietor of a European patent with unitary effect, the person shown in the Register for unitary patent
protection [Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012, Article 2(e)] as the proprietor shall be treated as such. If during proceedings before the Court a new proprietor is recorded in the
Register for unitary patent protection, the former registered proprietor may apply to the Court pursuant to Rule 305.1(c) for the substitution of the new proprietor.
5. Subject to paragraph 6, for the purposes of proceedings under these Rules: (a) in relation to the proprietor of a European patent, the person entitled to be registered as
proprietor under the law of each Contracting Member State in which such European patent has been validated shall be treated as the proprietor whether or not such person
is in fact recorded in the register of patents maintained in such Contracting Member State (hereinafter “national patent register”); and (b) in relation to the applicant for a
European patent, the person entitled to be registered as applicant whether or not such person is in fact recorded as such in the European Patent Register kept by the
European Patent Office. (c) For the purposes of paragraph 5, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the person shown in each national patent register and the
European Patent Register kept by the European Patent Office is the person entitled to be registered as proprietor or applicant as the case may be.
6. For the purposes of proceedings pursuant to Rules 42 and 61 in relation to a European patent, the person shown in the national patent register [Rule 8.5(a)] as the proprietor
shall be treated as such for each Contracting Member State or, as far as no such person is registered in a national patent register, the last person shown recorded as
proprietor in the European Patent Register kept by the European Patent Office.
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7INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
2 - Normative di riferimento UPC
L’art. 48 UPC in generale è sicuramente l’articolo fondamentale, che definisce la possibilità per il Qualified
EPA a rappresentare in udienza direttamente il Cliente, ma anche la possibilità che un Patent Attorney
assista un Avvocato in udienza con Diritto di Tribuna.
Si deve in qualche modo evidenziare come lo stesso articolo preveda un diverso «regime» tra avvocati e EPA
con EPLC:
o mentre il Representative avvocato deve essere un avvocato di uno Stato Partecipante UPC (quindi di
uno stato UE che partecipa all’UPC), per cui, ad esempio un avvocato registrato solo in Svizzera non
può essere un representative secondo l’art. 48 UPC;
o per il Representative EPA con EPLC non è richiesta una specifica nazionalità o qualifica UE. Pertanto,
anche un EPA con EPLC svizzero può essere un representative secondo l’art. 48 UPC.
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8Ruolo nell’Opt in/Opt out
INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
3 - Ruolo nell’Opt in/Opt out
Article 83
Transitional regime
1. During a transitional period of seven years after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, an action for infringement or for revocation of a European patent or
an action for infringement or for declaration of invalidity of a supplementary protection certificate issued for a product protected by a European patent may still be
brought before national courts or other competent national authorities.
2. An action pending before a national court at the end of the transitional period shall not be affected by the expiry of this period.
3. UPC/en 83
4. Unless an action has already been brought before the Court, a proprietor of or an applicant for a European patent granted or applied for prior to the end of the
transitional period under paragraph 1 and, where applicable, paragraph 5, as well as a holder of a supplementary protection certificate issued for a product protected by
a European patent, shall have the possibility to opt out from the exclusive competence of the Court. To this end they shall notify their opt-out to the Registry by the
latest one month before expiry of the transitional period. The opt-out shall take effect upon its entry into the register.
5. Unless an action has already been brought before a national court, proprietors of or applicants for European patents or holders of supplementary protection certificates
issued for a product protected by a European patent who made use of the opt-out in accordance with paragraph 3 shall be entitled to withdraw their opt-out at any
moment. In this event they shall notify the Registry accordingly. The withdrawal of the opt-out shall take effect upon its entry into the register.
6. Five years after the entry into force of this Agreement, the Administrative Committee shall carry out a broad consultation with the users of the patent system and a
survey on the number of European patents and supplementary protection certificates issued for products protected by European patents with respect to which
actions for infringement or for revocation or declaration of invalidity are still brought before the national courts pursuant to paragraph 1, the reasons for this and
the implications thereof. On the basis of this consultation and an opinion of the Court, the Administrative Committee may decide to prolong the transitional period
by up to seven years.
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10INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
3 - Ruolo nell’Opt in/Opt out
Riassumendo, sull’Opt-Out,
la Rule 8.1 UPC dice che la rappresentanza si basa sull’articolo 48 UPC, tranne che nei casi previsti dall’Agreement, citando tra
questi la Rule 5.
L’articolo 48 prevede che le parti possano essere rappresentate (oltre che da legali, ecc.) da un EPA con appropriata qualifica.
Art 48.2 UPC Agreement: Parties may alternatively be represented by European Patent Attorneys who are entitled to act as
professional representatives before the European Patent Office pursuant to Article 134 of the EPC and who have appropriate
qualifications such as a European Patent Litigation Certificate.
In deroga alla Rule 8, la Rule 5.4 prevede che, per quanto riguarda l’opt-out e il suo ritiro (impropriamente opt-in), il
representative possa essere, oltre a quello citato nell’Art. 48, anche un rappresentante secondo l’Art. 134 EPC (quindi un semplice
EPA)
Rule 5.4 – Rule 8 shall not apply to Applications to opt out and to Applications to withdraw made pursuant to this Rule 5. Where
a representative is appointed, such a representative may include professional representatives and legal practitioners as defined
in Article 134 EPC in addition to those referred to in Article 48 of the Agreement.
Tuttavia la Rule 5.3 prevede che l’application per l’opt-out debba essere presentata dal representative secondo l’Art. 48 (quindi
anche EPA con approrpiate qualification) o chiunque altro se provvisto di apposito mandato (e quindi un EPA semplice che
abbia un apposito mandato).
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11INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
3 - Ruolo nell’Opt in/Opt out
Diciamo che la lettura congiunta della rule 5.4 (che sembrerebbe prevedere che il mandato per l’opt-
out possa essere dato anche ad un semplice EPA) e della rule 5.3 (che prevede l’application per l’opt
out debba contenere il nome o di un rappresentante secondo Art. 48, quindi EPA con qualifica, o di
chiunque abbia un mandato) sembra essere dirimente.
Inoltre, nel sito dell’UPC Case Management System (dove andrà fatto l’opt out), è indicato che :
If the authorised user is a representative before the UPC in accordance with Art.48 of the Agreement on a UPC
a mandate authorising the opt-out is not required. If the user is not such a representative a mandate from all
patent proprietors and SPC holders must be lodged specifically authorising the opt-out. A template for the
mandate is provided below.
Quindi alla fine sembra di poter affermare che un EPA con qualifica possa depositare l’opt out,
mentre tutti gli altri (EPA o meno), debbano avere un mandato specifico all’uopo.
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12Court Experts
INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
Article 57 - Court Experts
1) Without prejudice to the possibility for the parties to produce expert evidence, the Court may
at any time appoint court experts in order to provide expertise for specific aspects of the case.
The Court shall provide such expert with all information necessary for the provision of the
expert advice.
2) To this end, an indicative list of experts shall be drawn up by the Court in accordance with the
Rules of Procedure. That list shall be kept by the Registrar.
3) The court experts shall guarantee independence and impartiality. Rules governing conflicts of
interest applicable to judges set out in Article 7 of the Statute shall by analogy apply to court
experts.
4) Expert advice given to the Court by court experts shall be made available to the parties which
shall have the possibility to comment on it.
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14INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
Chapter 2 – Court Experts
Rule 185 - Appointment of a court expert
1. Where the Court must resolve a specific technical or other question in relation to the action, it may of its own motion, and after
hearing the parties, appoint a court expert.
2. The parties may make suggestions regarding the identity of the court expert, his technical or other relevant background and the
questions to be put to him.
3. The court expert shall be responsible to the Court and shall possess the expertise, independence and impartiality required for being
appointed as court expert. The parties shall be entitled to be heard on the expertise, independence and impartiality of the court expert.
4. The Court shall appoint a court expert by way of order which shall in particular specify:
(a) the name and address of the expert appointed;
(b) a short description of the facts of the action;
(c) the evidence submitted by the parties in respect of the technical or other question;
(d) the questions put to the expert, with the appropriate level of detail, including where
appropriate suggestions relating to any experiments to be carried out;
(e) when and under what conditions the expert may receive other relevant information;
(f) the time period for the presentation of the expert report;
(g) information about the reimbursement of expenses incurred by the expert;
(h) information about the sanctions which may be imposed on a defaulting expert; and
(i) his duties under Rule 186.
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15INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
5. The expert shall receive a copy of the order, together with the documents and other evidence that the Court considers to be necessary for
carrying out his task.
6. The expert shall be required upon receipt of the order to confirm in writing that he will present the expert report within the time period
specified by the Court.
7. The Court shall agree with the expert on a fee covering his written expert report and his participation in the oral hearing. The Court may
reduce this fee by an equitable amount if the expert does not deliver his report within the time period specified by the Court or if the report
did not have the quality to be expected of the expert.
8. If an appointed court expert does not present his report within the time period specified or, if extended at the expert’s request, the
extended period, the Court may appoint another expert in his place. The Court may hold the expert liable for all or part of the costs of
appointing and reimbursing another expert.
9. The Registry shall maintain an indicative list of technical experts.
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16INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
Non è chiaro come si entri nella lista.
Sembrerebbe che la Corte possa decidere autonomamente di incaricare un esperto a sua
discrezione (eventualmente con suggerimenti da parte delle parti, che possono anche a loro volta
nominare degli esperti delle parti, diversi però dai nostri CTP, in quanto devono essere
assolutamente imparziali) per rispondere ad una specifica questione tecnica; non è come un CTU
che valuta la validità o l’infringement, ma un esperto che valuta una specifica questione tecnica, o
esegue test concordati con la corte.
Non sembra, a differenza del CTU Italiano, che lavori in contraddittorio. Riceve materiale, il
quesito, e il termine entro cui deve depositare la memoria.
Non sembra che la corte sia vincolata a scegliere gli esperti in una lista, ma che abbia completa
discrezione.
Inoltre, per quel che riguarderà i procedimenti cautelari di descrizione secondo l’art. 60(3)UPC e
Rule 196 ROP, sembra di intendere che oltre ad un ufficiale giudiziario possa anche essere
nominato un CTU come lo intendiamo in Italia, in quanto è importante che ne sappia di brevetti.
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17Il ruolo del Patent Attorney
INTRODUZIONE AL PACCHETTO UNITARIO
LA FIGURA DEL PATENT ATTORNEY
Oltre a tutto quanto esposto precedentemente, con particolare riferimento a cosa può fare un QEPA
o un EPA, anche i Patent Attorney nazionali hanno dei ruoli nella UPC, che si possono così
riassumere:
Art. 48 (4) UPC e Rule 292 che fanno riferimento ai Patent Attorney nazionali di Stati della CBE (o
EPA normali) che possono accompagnare il Representative nei procedimenti e hanno diritto di
parlare durante l’udienza a discrezione della Corte e sotto la responsabilità del Representative.
La rule 287 ROP – Attorney-client privilege e rule 288 – Litigation privilege, che estende il
“privilege” sia al Patent attorney nazionale che l’EPA normale, quando sono stati consultati
(indipendentemente se in collegamento con l’azione presso l’UPC).
Art. 60(4) UPC: durante la descrizione la Parte ricorrente può non essere presente, ma può essere
rappresentata da un “independent professional practicioner”, che direi che possa essere anche un
Patent Attorney nazionale.
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19Grazie
Carlo Luigi Iannone – Managing Director
Ufficio B&Z di MILANO
Via Borgonuovo, 10
20121 Milano, Italia
Tel. +39 02 626131
Fax +39 02 6598859
c.l.iannone@barzano-zanardo.comYou can also read
