The opening of the UPC Milan Central Division is fast approaching, and one year of UPC has passed. We at Società Italiana Brevetti S.p.A. and SIB LEX want to share our view on the first year and make a toast for the opening of the UPC Milan Central Divsion on June 27th, 2024! Please find more
Now that our four-leafed clover is full with the accession of top-ranking Dutch law firm Arnold & Siedsma, colleagues from the member firms IPSIDE – SANTARELLI – BREVALEX, Società Italiana Brevetti S.p.A. (“SIB” and “SIBlex”), Meissner Bolte and Arnold & Siedsma sat together to discuss both housekeeping matters and strategy, as well as future planning.
Very interesting legal and patent issues were discussed to find out how the procedures and legal instruments established by national jurisdictions in the four member countries FR, IT, NL and DE differ from those we may expect in UPC proceedings, and crucially also the points of similarity. These topics included an analysis of the evidence preservation instruments available in the four member states and in the UPC Agreement and in which legal system evidence preservation proceedings can be effectively employed. One of the many strengths of the EPLN is that it has experienced colleagues in each of the four EPLN member states who know the current practice of the local or central division in question.
Of course no visit to Munich would be complete without a tour of the city and the chance to enjoy traditional Bavarian hospitality, which means a hearty meal! So we were also able to relax a bit.
A big thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event a success!
Press release, October 17, 2023
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) promotes international cooperation among participating EU member states. In order to properly position themselves for handling cases before the UPC, IP law firms from different countries have joined together to form the European Patent Litigators Network (EPLN). In addition to the two founding members Meissner Bolte (Germany) and Santarelli Group (France) and the sister law firms of SIB (Società Italiana Brevetti) and SIB LEX società tra avvocati from Italy, the renowned IP law firm Arnold & Siedsma from the Netherlands joined the network as its fifth partner on October 17, 2023.
The EPLN pools competences beyond national borders with a view to filing, protecting and enforcing patents and providing the best service and tailored solutions to clients. “We are very pleased that Arnold & Siedsma, as one of the best-known Dutch IP law firms, is now joining our network. Arnold & Siedsma is a mixed firm of experienced legal and patent attorneys. Meissner Bolte has been working with the firm for decades and we greatly value the expertise of our Dutch colleagues,” said Kay Rupprecht, Partner of Meissner Bolte.
Arnold & Siedsma has twelve offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland and is a specialist intellectual property law firm. It has a significant share of European patent infringement litigation in the Netherlands and employs patent attorneys, trademark attorneys, design attorneys and attorneys-at-law. The attorneys provide expertise in all major innovative sectors, from biotechnology and pharmaceuticals to semiconductors and software. “The new unitary patent system creates new opportunities and challenges for patent litigation and validation strategies in Europe and beyond. This requires new steps in the field of patent litigation for our clients. Joining the EPLN is an excellent complement to our efforts to advise and assist our clients in the best possible way. We believe that litigation before the UPC requires knowledge of the national law of the member states of the UPC, and the EPLN offers us and our clients the advantage of working with IP law firms that are familiar with IP issues of national law in Germany, France and Italy. We are proud to join this network of leading European IP law firms and look forward to working with Meissner Bolte, Santarelli and SIB, as well as SIB LEX, to break new ground in patent litigation,” said Michiel Rijsdijk, partner at Arnold & Siedsma.
The EPLN makes it possible to advise and represent clients of the respective law firms in cases before the UPC even more comprehensively and at the same time more cost-effectively. The international focus ensures that a wide range of remedies is available to the lawyers to achieve the best results for their clients.
“The addition of Arnold & Siedsma strengthens our network and makes it even more powerful: on the one hand, a not inconsiderable share of European patent infringement litigation takes place in the Netherlands, and on the other hand, the Dutch legal system features a mixture of Continental European law and the original Anglo-American common law, and can thus provide positive influence on the way to a harmonized European patent law practice. Arnold & Siedsma thus brings additional expertise and a whole new, country-specific perspective to the EPLN,” says Jacopo De Benedetti, Managing Partner at SIB.
All participating law firms emphasize the partnership, passion and professional cooperation in the EPLN. “The cooperation has started very well. We regularly consult each other on approaches and legal issues in the different states of the new unitary patent system,” said Christophe Cornuejols, Managing Partner at Santarelli Group. “We all benefit greatly from the experience and resources from each country, and we also already work together. In doing so, we are able to effectively leverage the synergies of the EPLN.”
We are delighted to invite you to Meissner Bolte’s IP-Days Seminar in Munich, which will begin at lunchtime on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 and will run through to our Oktoberfest farewell “hurrah” on September 28, 2023.
The IP-Days will be held in person, as usual. Following the success of our Hybrid IP Days in 2022, we shall also provide virtual access to our seminar for all those who will not be able to attend in Munich, but wish to keep up to date on developments in the world of IP.
Please follow the link for more information as well as the programm and the registration form: https://lnkd.in/eCRZVDjS
The link for virtual access will be provided a few days prior to the seminar.