Global IP Exchange Europe 2023

HGF is sponsoring the 14th annual Global IP Exchange Europe, which will be held on the 13th – 14th of March in Berlin, Germany.

Global IP Exchange Europe is a leading event for IP, patent, trade mark and brand protection leaders, who are looking to discover new ideas, make connections and find new solutions to their challenges.

The anticipated launch of the Unified Patent Court in the summer of 2023, will be the biggest change in the European patent landscape in a generation.

The UPC provides a forum to litigate a bundle of European patents or the new European patent with unitary effect (UP) in a single action. The timetable for UPC proceedings will be quick (12 months to trial) and cost-effective relative to the number of jurisdictions that will be within the UPC’s jurisdiction (17 EU member states at the time of launch, including Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands). Judgments of the UPC divisions will be enforceable in those EU member states participating in the UPC system, and potentially beyond. Equally, the UPC provides an opportunity for third parties to centrally revoke the EP bundle or UP in a single action, at any time. There is also the potential for powerful pan-UPC injunctions, including preliminary injunctions and saisie-like procedures to obtain evidence of infringement (potentially in multiple locations).

Lucy Johnson, Partner and Head of Engineering at HGF, will chair the event, while Rachel Fetches, Partner and Head of Law at HGF, and Achim Krebs, Partner and Patent Attorney at HGF, will deliver the session ‘Unified Patent Court: Pre-Launch Insights and your European patenting strategy’.

This event is a great opportunity to hear from experts on the current strategies and decision-making processes that all European patent owners should be undertaking. This includes the decision to opt-out granted or pending EPs from the UPC’s jurisdiction, or leave them within the concurrent jurisdiction of the UPC and national patent courts. For those looking to validate future EPs as a UP, we will look at the pros and cons of the UP, including transactional considerations.