Taylor Wessing completes a major Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent publishing project

With the German ratification of the Unified Patent Court now locking in a 1 June 2023 start date for the Unified Patent Court (UPC), following the beginning of the 'sunrise period' for opt outs in March, we have completed a major UPC publishing project to accompany these once-in-a-generation developments. 

This project consists of two, complementary and definitive, practitioner's texts which have now been published with Hart Bloomsbury:

• The first is a unique account of pan-European patent law: 'A Practitioner's Guide to European Patent Law: for National Practice and the Unified Patent Court' (second edition).
• The second is a guide covering every aspect of the structure and procedures of the new court and patent: 'A Practitioner's Guide to the Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent'.

Led by Dr Paul England, the guides are a major, dual publishing project with Bloomsbury that contain contributions from a pan-European team of patent lawyers from Taylor Wessing: Charlotte Garnitsch, Dr Anja Lunze, Wim Maas, Mattias Rättzén, Michael Washbrook and Dr Nora Wessendorf, together with many other friends and partners from patent practices in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as former patent judges. 

More on 'A Practitioner’s Guide to European Patent Law: for National Practice and the Unified Patent Court'

This much expanded second edition is intended to be an 'ius commune' – a comprehensive and practical guide to patent law across Europe, for informing cases in the UPC. The book highlights the areas of consistency and difference between the most influential European patent law jurisdictions: the European Patent Office (EPO), England and Wales, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. It also draws insights from other, very active, patent courts: Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland. Uniquely, the book addresses European patent law by subject matter area, assessing the key national and EPO approaches together, rather than nation-by-nation.

Read a review of the second edition of 'A Practitioner’s Guide to European Patent Law' here.

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This separate volume provides a practical and detailed guide to the UPC, covering every rule of procedure, and with a detailed account of the structure and competence of the UPC, its remedies, jurisdiction, language and relationship with the existing system of national courts and EPO. 

Together, these books will provide private practice and in-house European patent lawyers and attorneys with all the law and procedure they need to use in the new court and patent.

Commenting on the project, Paul England said: “With this unprecedented legal project for clients and others practising in patents, Taylor Wessing is rising to the challenge of unprecedented developments in the patent system.”