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IP2Innovate welcomes latest changes to the UPC’s transparency rules

BRUSSELS, 12 July 2022 – IP2Innovate, a trade group pushing for a better functioning patent system in Europe, welcomes the transparency rules agreed last week by the Unified Patent Court which will ensure the Court’s decisions and orders are publicly available. The final version of the rules “are an improvement on the status quo in Europe, where national patent courts offer very little transparency about cases,” said Patrick Oliver, executive director of IP2Innovate. “Public accessibility to Court decisions and orders is essential to build trust in the Court and encourage industry to start using it”, Patrick Oliver continued.

 

Transparency is essential for parties to be aware of the litigation history of a patent and be able to coordinate their defense with other parties. It’s particularly important for small and medium size enterprises with small or non-existent in-house legal teams.

 

The UPC originally proposed full transparency of all aspects of a patent court case, but that plan was abandoned in April.  After an outcry from stakeholders, including from IP2Innovate, the UPC has partially reversed its position by reinstating rules to ensure that at least court decisions and orders are made publicly available. However, pleadings and evidence in cases will only be available “upon reasoned request.” As the Court starts functioning later this year, IP2Innovate encourages the Court to consult with industry and remain open to making further improvements to ensuring full transparency.

 

For further information, please contact:

Patrick Oliver

IP2Innovate

Executive Director

Email: contact@ip2innovate.eu

Mobile: +32-477-597065

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IP2Innovate

IP2I welcomes the European Parliament's formal request, adopted today, calling on the Commission to investigate the practices of patent assertion entities in Europe.

Brussels, 11 November 2021 – The European Parliament has instructed the European Commission to investigate in-depth how PAEs, also known as non-practising entities, or more colloquially patent trolls, game the European patent system.
Patrick Oliver

Wide cross-section of industry urges the European Commission to take action to stop PAEs from gaming the patent system in Europe

Thirty-five companies and four industry groups representing over 150 companies from different industry sectors, have written to European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, urging him to take action to clamp down on Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs) – otherwise known as “patent trolls”. “The experience of our member companies indicates that Europe’s patent system is not working properly and is undermining Europe’s ability to compete globally in the next frontier of technologies,” said Patrick Oliver, Executive Director of IP2Innovate, one of the industry groups that signed the letter. “The European Commission needs to take steps to stop PAEs from gaming the patent system. We are urging Commissioner Breton to draft a set of guidelines that address imbalances in the patent system – in particular guidelines that support the application of a proportionality requirement in patent enforcement by judges around Europe, as required by EU law,” Mr Oliver added. Many European courts issue automatic injunctions upon a finding of a patent infringement, without considering a remedy that could be more proportionate. So for example, an unintentional infringement of just one patent among many others could result in a popular product being withdrawn from the market. PAEs don’t invent, build or sell anything. They just buy up patents to assert them against innovative companies, including SMEs, and extract high settlement fees not based on the value of the underlying invention but rather based on the damage that would result from the removal of the entire product from the market. “As litigation by PAEs has slowed in the US we have witnessed its rise in Europe,” Mr Oliver said, adding: “It’s not just big firms that are targeted – SMEs are also picked on by PAEs. Unjustified product withdrawals can sink a company. They also deprive the public of consumer choice and the benefits of innovation.” Clear enforcement guidelines would help ensure Member States apply EU law properly. They would also bring more balance to the patent system and help avoid disproportionate outcomes and abusive litigation practices, Mr Oliver said. “We stand ready to work with the Commissioner and his team on specific solutions to prevent PAEs from further exploiting the legal system to the detriment of Europe’s digital economy,” he said. Notes to editors: 1. The letter to Commissioner Breton and full list of signatories can be found here. 2. IP2Innovate (IP2I) is a coalition of small and large companies that create innovative products and services in Europe and collectively hold thousands of European patents, as well as European industry groups that collectively represent 65 companies. Our members include: Adidas, Amadeus, Atos / Bull, Daimler, Dell, Freebox, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Nvidia, Proximus, SAP, Spotify & Wiko. IP2I is concerned about a number of imbalances in Europe’s patent legal system that are being exploited to the detriment of innovation and growth in Europe. The exploitation of these imbalances is in particular shown by the rise of litigation related activity by Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs) in Europe. 3. European Commission’s IP Package of 29 November 2017: In its IP Package of 29 November 2017, the Commission acknowledged that there are differences in the way Member States apply certain provisions of the EU Directive on IPR enforcement (IPRED) (such as those on injunctions) across the Single Market, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the Directive. The Commission therefore undertook to “work with Member States' national experts and judges on further, more targeted guidelines, to give more detailed and practical guidance on specific IPRED issues, based on best practices experience” (here, p. 29) with a view to improving the system of judicial enforcement in the EU. Two years after the publication of the IP Package, the thirty-four companies and four associations signatories to the letter to Commissioner Breton call on the European Commission to expand its work with Member States, judges and stakeholders to publish targeted guidelines to support the homogenous and effective application of the proportionality principle to patents. 4. For further information, please contact: Patrick Oliver Executive Director, IP2Innovate Email: contact@ip2innovate.eu Mobile: +32-477-597065
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L’UE face au fléau des «chasseurs de brevets»

Some companies are worried about the spread of the patent troll phenomenon in Europe. Some have even sent a letter to Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for Industry, calling for a “balanced approach to intellectual property and measures against non-practicing entities (NPE): legal person with no activity known as Patent Troll”.
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