Milan confirmed as third seat of Central Division

The Italian Foreign Office has published a press release announcing an agreement with France and Germany to set up a branch of the Central Division in Milan.  This agreement will be considered by the other UPC contracting states during the next meeting of the Administrative Committee in June 2023. The Italian press release states that the Milan court is in the process of completing the legal and operational procedures to allow the new Central Division seat to be operational within the next year.   This announcement comes days after the UPC published the decision of the Presidium of the UPC that from 1 June 2023, the two IPC sections originally assigned to London, will be allocated to Paris (A – Human necessities) and Munich (C – Chemistry, metallurgy).  The A classification includes the sub-categories of agriculture, tobacco, apparel & footwear, furniture & household articles, medicine, surgery, pesticides, and entertainment. The C classification includes inorganic and organic chemistry, macromolecular compounds, dyes & paints, petroleum, microbiology, and beverages.

This means that from 1 June 2023 at least, actions for revocation and declarations of non-infringement will be divided between the Paris and Munich Central Division as follows: