Technical Review and Call for Evidence on Secondary Legislation Implementing the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court and EU Regulations Establishing the Unitary Patent Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of the Patent Office Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................1 Economic Impact Assessments ............................................................................................ 1 How to respond ..................................................................................................2 Next Steps ............................................................................................................................ 2 Confidentiality & Data Protection .......................................................................3 Consultation principles ......................................................................................3 Comments or complaints on the conduct of this consultation ............................................. 3 Background ........................................................................................................4 Scope of the Technical Review and Call for Evidence .......................................5 Territorial scope of the Proposed Changes .........................................................6 Jurisdiction .........................................................................................................7 Conferring jurisdiction on the Unified Patent Court ............................................................... 7 Comptroller’s Powers ............................................................................................................ 8 Opinions ................................................................................................................................ 9 Transitional period ................................................................................................................. 9 Jurisdiction of the UPC and SPCs ........................................................................................ 10 Court Provisions ................................................................................................................... 10 Enforcement of UPC Court Orders ....................................................................................... 11 Mediation and Arbitration Awards ........................................................................................ 11 Perjury .................................................................................................................................. 11 Financial Provisions and the UPC ......................................................................................... 12 Consequential Changes to the Patents Act .......................................................................... 12 Questions on changes relating to Jurisdiction ...................................................................... 13 Unitary Patent ....................................................................................................14 Changes relating to the Unitary Patent Regulation ............................................................... 14 Double Patenting .................................................................................................................. 14 Removal of Status as European Patent (UK) ........................................................................ 15 Compulsory Licences ........................................................................................................... 15 Prior Use ............................................................................................................................... 15 Groundless Threats............................................................................................................... 16 SPCs and the Unitary Patent ................................................................................................ 16 Questions on changes relating to the Unitary Patent ............................................................ 17 Infringement .......................................................................................................18 Introduction to infringement ................................................................................................. 18 New exceptions to infringement ........................................................................................... 19 Plant breeding .............................................................................................................. 19 Computer programs ..................................................................................................... 20 Changes to UK law to define infringement for the Unitary Patent......................................... 21 Contributory Infringement ............................................................................................. 21 Vehicles ........................................................................................................................ 22 Infringement and SPCs ......................................................................................................... 22 Transitional arrangements ..................................................................................................... 22 Questions on changes relating to Infringement .................................................................... 23 Annex A: List of organisations consulted ...........................................................24 Annex B: List of questions .................................................................................26 Questions on changes relating to Jurisdiction ...................................................................... 26 Questions on changes relating to the Unitary Patent ............................................................ 27 Questions on changes relating to Infringement .................................................................... 27 Annex C: Draft Statutory Instrument ..................................................................29 Annex D: Impact Assessments ..........................................................................36 Annex E: Glossary of terms and abbreviations ..................................................37 1 Executive Summary 1. This Technical Review and Call for Evidence seeks views on the Government’s proposals for implementing the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement and accompanying EU Regulations. We are seeking views on the drafting, structure and effect of the draft UK legislation. 2. We are also asking for relevant evidence on the way that the proposals will work in practice to inform our assumptions about the likely economic impacts (which are outlined in the accompanying Impact Assessments) and to assist with decisions on the details of proposed legislation. Economic Impact Assessments 3. In line with the Government’s better regulation principles, Economic Impact Assessments have been completed for each of the Government’s proposals. These provide information on existing evidence and assumptions on which it has taken a view at this stage. The division of changes along the three themes (Jurisdiction, Unitary Patent and Infringement) is reflected in the Impact Assessments which are available on our website. 2 How to respond 4. When responding, please state whether you are responding as an individual or representing the views of an organisation. If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, please make it clear who the organisation represents and, where applicable, how the views of members were assembled. You do not need to answer every question, please feel free to leave any that you do not wish to answer blank. Please send responses by email or by letter or fax to: Katherine Evans UPC Taskforce Intellectual Property Office Concept House Cardiff Road Newport NP10 8QQ Tel: 0300 300 2000 Fax: 01633 817 777 Email: [email protected] Issued: 10 June 2014 Respond by: 2 September 2014 5. The contact details above may also be used to ask questions about policy issues raised in the document, or to obtain a copy of the consultation in another format. 6. The consultation principles are found below and a list of those organisations and individuals consulted is in Annex A. We would welcome suggestions of others who may wish to be involved in this consultation process. Next Steps 7. It is the Government’s intention to publish a summary of responses to the Technical Review and Call for Evidence within three months of the closing date of this Technical Review and Call for Evidence. Following consideration of responses, the Statutory Instrument will be laid before Parliament. It will be subject to affirmative resolution as required by the power in the Intellectual Property Act 2014. 3 Confidentiality & Data Protection 8. Information provided in response to this Technical Review and Call for Evidence, including personal information, may be subject to publication or release to other parties, or to disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004). If you want information, including personal data that you provide, to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply