tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post5245169405864797906..comments2024-03-19T12:09:41.188+00:00Comments on The IPKat: Will a virtual body be granting the future Unitary SPCs? Verónica RodrÃguez Arguijohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05763207846940036921noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-62651517335439723092016-04-18T07:08:56.433+01:002016-04-18T07:08:56.433+01:00I should add that there are already not enough exp...I should add that there are already not enough experienced SPC examiners to go around, and so it would be a disaster if the EPO were to hire a significant number of them.<br /><br />For various reasons, national SPCs will be with us for a long time yet (perhaps indefinitely). Thus, the national offices will continue to represent important venues (perhaps the most important venues) for SPC applicants. To eviscerate their examining capability would therefore be doing applicants a serious disservice.<br /><br />The alternative (a virtual body) would make the best of what already exists, whilst allowing national offices to retain their skilled staff. What's not to like about that?<br /><br />Anon, you argue that "<i>The employment issues at the EPO do not prevent it from examining patent applications as usual</i>". However, handing responsibility for uSPCs over to the EPO at present would be akin to rewarding a problem child for appalling behaviour.Proof of the puddinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14209291532431506713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-7098637606382723452016-04-17T21:01:51.070+01:002016-04-17T21:01:51.070+01:00@Anon 11:56 - you have clearly failed to grasp the...@Anon 11:56 - you have clearly failed to grasp the perils of throwing the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to experience in examining SPCs. Starting at ground zero with the EPO really would be a disaster for applicants - especially given the complexity of the (case) law.<br /><br />Your perspective is so pro-EPO, can you please confirm whether you are on BB's payroll before commenting again? As you may guess, I can confirm that I am not.Proof of the puddinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14209291532431506713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-39162712142337171752016-04-17T17:56:16.744+01:002016-04-17T17:56:16.744+01:00An alternative would be to allow an applicant to r...An alternative would be to allow an applicant to request an SPC before any patent office of an EU state with this then extending to the EU as a whole in the same way that a national court can act as an EU court in design matters.Kantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-5814514080343293962016-04-17T11:56:05.532+01:002016-04-17T11:56:05.532+01:00Come on: back in 1978 the EPO had 0 experience wit...Come on: back in 1978 the EPO had 0 experience with patent examination. Yet it could start and flourish because it hired experienced examiners from national offices, and because it built on the Institut International des Brevets in Rijswijk. <br />The same holds for the UPC: when it starts, it will have 0 experience itself. Yet, nobody needs to be afraid of silly judgments because the UPC judges will be drawn from experienced national courts. <br />So, no doubt that the EPO will do just fine if it were (t)asked to examine SPC applications. <br /><br />Governance will be the big issue with any virtual office: it will need real governance structures. Especially when you consider appeals: any decision from the appeal body will have to be implemented by the first instance, so again real governance is needed to ensure that this indeed happens. <br />So, it is better to involve a real body rather than a virtual one.<br /><br />The EUIPO is an EU organization, that is true, but it has no knowledge of patents and technical things. Would that really be a more preferable solution for handling SPCs?<br /><br />The employment issues at the EPO do not prevent it from examining patent applications as usual. Also, the EPO Board of Appeal issues are irrelevant for unitary SPCs if SPC appeals are handled by the UPC rather than by the EPO Boards of Appeal,just like the UPC handled administrative unitary patent appeals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-10234051261211539472016-04-17T09:47:08.322+01:002016-04-17T09:47:08.322+01:00@ Anon 16 April - use the EPO? Are you serious? ...@ Anon 16 April - use the EPO? Are you serious? That is one sure way of losing all of the collective knowledge of the national offices that has been gained over the last 20+ years regarding how to examine SPCs. How about we instead try to improve upon what already exists (e.g. by creating a virtual body), rather than throwing out the baby with the bathwater?<br /><br />Another thing - unless and until a way is found to improve the governance of the EPO (including ensuring full compliance with fundamental principles of employment legislation in the EU), I would be <b>very</b> uncomfortable with the EPO gaining control of the examination of yet another highly valuable IP right.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-1951889210117460102016-04-16T14:00:25.687+01:002016-04-16T14:00:25.687+01:00As an EU organisation, the EUIPO would appear to b...As an EU organisation, the EUIPO would appear to be better suited to the task than the EPO. One wonders why they were not chosen to handle the unitary patent registration procedure.Kantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-61723700636256822002016-04-16T08:56:57.151+01:002016-04-16T08:56:57.151+01:00This virtual body looks silly. Why not a real body...This virtual body looks silly. Why not a real body like the EPO, with any appeals being handled by the UPC, but just like appeals against EPO decisions in unitary patent matters.<br /><br />A basis in the EPC for doing so can easily be found, see Articles 63(4), 143 and 149a(1) EPC. Note that in Article 149a(1) EPC, whatever follows "such as" is non-limiting and can be skipped.<br /><br />As regards fees and costs, the EPO should get its costs reimbursed, following the principles of Art. 146 EPC. For the remainder, the fee income can be distributed by the EPO among the participating states in the same way as their share in the unitary patent income.<br /> <br />As regards the law to be applied, changing the present SPC regulations will just result in long delays. So, it is better to accept the preset SPC regulations, and to look for any improvements later on.<br /><br />The above could easily be handled in a relative small amendment of the unitary patent regulation 1257/2012, as it is a logical consequence of the decision to allow a subgroup of EU states to cooperate in unitary patent matters. Doing so would automatically result in jurisdiction for the UPC to handle appeals under Article 32(1)(i) UPC Agreement. <br /><br />Just like with unitary patents, the new SPC provisions in the unitary patent regulation would be supplemented by decisions of the Select Committee. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-71958955720674465882016-04-15T18:53:53.272+01:002016-04-15T18:53:53.272+01:00Does anyone know who won the Commission's tend...Does anyone know who won the Commission's tender for a legal study on SPCs? The Commission's website does not seem to provide any information on the point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com