EVENT INVITE: Unitary Patent Debate - What's next?

The invite to the event of
the season: don't miss it!

On 29 June 2012, with news of the Council's agreement on the proposed unitary patent, it seemed that there was a promise of a resolution of the 40-year old saga with the Central Division of the Unified Patent Court to be hosted by Paris with specialist branches in London and Munich.  The Council also suggested the deletion of the controversial Articles 6 to 8 of the Proposed Regulation.  But on Monday, the European Parliament postponed the final reading and vote on the unitary patent proposals calling the Council's suggested deletion of Articles 6 to 8 of the Proposed Regulation "a scandalous breach of procedure".  The European Parliament has now referred the issue back to the Legal Affairs Committee for debate on 10 July 2012.


So now, unsurprisingly, everyone is asking the AmeriKat 

"What does this mean, what is next and what should we be doing?!"

To that end, the IPKat is pleased to forward an invitation to its readers on behalf of the UK's intellectual property community to participate in an event which aims to resolve just that by way of discussion and debate on Friday, 13th July 2012 at 4:30 for a 5:00 PM start at the plush (so she hears, she has never been) offices of Freshfields in London.  

The debate, chaired by Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger, and attended by IP judges, barristers, solicitors, attorneys, industry, MPs and more, will address topics such as the problematic Articles 6 to 8, the removal of bifurcation and at what price should the UK join (or not join) the unitary patent system.

The goal of the event is to obtain as many views from across the patent and innovation community as possible to feed back to those who are negotiating on the UK's behalf.  The AmeriKat urges you to attend and hopes she will see you there.

For more information please see the invitation here.
To RSVP e-mail unitarypatentdebate@gmail.com with your name and position in the subject line by 11 July 2012.