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ISSUE 1 2014 MASCHIO & SOAMES IP LTD The Unitary Patent will be available once 13 member states including the UK, France and Germany have ratified the UPC Agreement. The UK is expected to ratify in early 2015 and it is expected that the Unitary Patent will not come into force until 2016 at the very earliest.
Rules of procedure
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) will be formed of a Court of First Instance (CFI) and a Court of Appeal. The CFI comprises local and regional divisions, which will primarily hear infringement cases, and a central division, which will hear cases relating to the validity of patents unless a concurrent infringement action has been brought in a local or regional division. Member States can either host a local division or participate in a regional division with other Member States. Alternatively states may choose not to have a local or regional division in which case all cases for infringement in their territory will be heard in the central division. It is anticipated that each Member State will either host one or more local divisions or enter into regional partnerships.
The central division will have its seat in Paris and will have two specialist sections in London and Munich. London will hear cases relating to chemistry, including pharmaceuticals, and the life sciences; Munich will hear cases relating to mechanical engineering. All other cases will be heard by the Paris central division.
The Court of Appeal will be based in Luxembourg.
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