A New Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre for Europe

Abstract

With the Unitary Patent (UP) and Unified Patent Court, some Member States of the European Union are creating a new system that reaches beyond the existing European Patent (EP). The goal of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court is to reduce fragmentation and provide more uniform territorial patent protection by establishing a centralized patent court. In an effort to promote alternative dispute resolution, the Agreement also provides for the creation of a Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre. This is the first statutory mechanism that recognizes the availability of arbitration for resolving certain types of intellectual property (IP) disputes at an EU-wide level. With thirteen states having ratified the Protocol on Provisional Application, the entry-into-force clause has been triggered and the last part of the preparatory work has commenced. The new system is expected to be fully implemented in early 2023. This article first introduces the new Centre and its role within the framework of the Unitary Patent System (section 1). It then explains the operation of the Centre (section 2) and analyses the Centre’s impact on the arbitrability of claims relating to patent invalidity or scope (section 3).