Tag: UPC Candidate Judges

Posted on

Preparatory Committee re-opens judges recruitment campaign

UPC Judges recruitment 2019

The Unified Patent Court published on 3rd June has announced that “the Preparatory Committee has agreed to re-open recruitment for judicial positions to new applications“. This will be the second recruitment campaign after the first in 2016.

The 2019 campaign is a “‘top-up’ exercise to complement the recruitment held three years ago” . As in 2016, this campaign aims at finding legally and technically qualified judges.

This new campaign should also” allow those that were not eligible, or decided not to apply three years ago, to submit an application provided they now meet the correct criteria. “

The job adverts for legally and technically qualified judges read :

“Legally qualified judges to serve at the Court of First Instance or at the Court of Appeal – several full-time and part-time posts –
– 6-year terms –

The successful candidates will be part of a new supranational court and contribute decisively by their judicial work and highest standards of competence to ensure that the UPC becomes a widely respected forum for settling patent disputes in the Contracting Member States of the European Union.

Candidates shall be nationals of one of the Member States having signed the UPCA. To be appointed, the successful candidates shall be nationals of Member States having ratified the UPCA. They shall have a good command of at least one official language of the European Patent Office (English, French or German), shall ensure the highest standards of competence and shall have proven experience in the field of patent litigation. Specific training in patent litigation according to Art. 2(3) of UPCA Statute will also be accepted.

Candidates shall possess the qualifications required for appointment to judicial offices in the Member State of which they are nationals. Reference is made to the official information provided in the Information on the selection process of UPC judges. 

In addition, the ideal candidate will have:
–      extensive experience in the field of patent litigation,
–      initiative, high degree of commitment and self-motivation and a proactive approach to ensure efficiency and high quality of proceedings at the UPC,
–      the ability to work both independently and as part of a judicial panel or specialist team, and to meet tight deadlines,
–      well-developed written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills,
–      strong analytical skills,
–      the capacity to work in a multinational and multilingual environment.

Salary and benefits: The UPC offers attractive salaries, allowances, social benefits and a pension scheme comparable to that offered at other intarnational courts. The net monthly salary for this vacancy is of EUR 11 000 for full-time judges at the Court of First Instance and of 12 000 for full-time judges at the Court of Appeal. 

Technically qualified judges to serve at the Court of First Instance and at the Court of Appeal – several part-time posts –
– 6-year terms –

The successful candidates will be part of a new supranational court and contribute decisively by their judicial work and highest standards of competence to ensure that the UPC becomes a widely respected forum for settling patent disputes in the Contracting Member States of the European Union.

Qualifications: Candidates shall be nationals of one of the Member States having signed the UPCA. To be appointed, the successful candidates shall be nationals of Member States having ratified the UPCA. They shall have a good command of at least one official language of the European Patent Office (English, French or German), shall ensure the highest standards of competence and shall have proven experience in the field of patent litigation.

Candidates shall have

  • a university degree,
  • proven expertise in a field of technology and
  • proven knowledge of civil law and procedure relevant in patent litigation.

Specific training in patent litigation according to art 2(3) of UPCA Statute will also be accepted. In addition, the ideal candidate will have

  • extensive experience in the field of patent litigation
  • initiative, high degree of commitment and self-motivation and a proactive approach to ensure efficiency and high quality of proceedings at the UPC,
  • the ability to work both independently and as part of a judicial panel or specialist team, and to meet tight deadlines,
  • well-developed written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills,
  • strong analytical skills,
  • the capacity to work in a multinational and multilingual environment.

Salary and benefits: The UPC offers attractive salaries allowances, social benefits and a pension scheme comparable to that offered at other international courts. The net monthly salary for this vacancy is of EUR 11 000 for Court of First Instance judges (full-time equivalent). ” 

As for the process and timeline the ad specifies that “the successful candidates will be selected on the basis of qualifications and relevant experience, supplemented by interviews. Appointments will be made by the UPC’s Administrative Committee. ” Both dealines for application are midnight CET 29.07.2019

Posted on

The recruitment of Judges for the UPC has started

UPC Judges recruitment 2019

The Unified Patent Court announced on its website the start of the recruitment of the legally and technically qualified  judges  for the UPC Court of First of Instance and Court of Appeal.

The vacancy notices have been published in French, English and German and the application deadline is 04 July 2016. The announcement can also be found here.

The appointment procedure will then be finalized after the entry into force of the Protocol on Provisional Application and subsequently the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court.

 

Posted on

UPC Judges recruitment process to start by the end of May:

UPC Judges recruitment 2019

The UPC Preparatory Committee met in Luxembourg on 14th April 2016  and reached an agreement on the UPC judges’ recruitment package. As explained by the Unified Patent Court this means that judicial appointments can be advertised in May, with the recruitment process starting at the same time.

The Committee also discussed a draft Code of Conduct for practitioners developed by EPLAW, EPLIT, and the epi, which should be agreed at the next meeting of the Committee at the end of May.

This will be completed by a signing ceremony on the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities at the end of June.

 

Posted on

News Rules, new Judges and new Court Fees…The 14th meeting of the Preparatory Committee:

The Preparatory Committee met on 24th and 25th of February 2016 and published today the report of their 14th meeting. Here is what the Committee agreed upon:

Rules:

The Committee agreed on the Rules governing the Registry of the UPC and the Rules of Procedure of the Advisory Committee.

The Committee however decided to come back to the Arbitration Rules and the Rules of Operation of the Arbitration and Mediation Centre at its next meeting in April.

The Protocol on Privileges and Immunities was agreed by the Committee. This is an important achievement especially since it is necessary for a number of Member States to conclude their national ratification processes.

 

Judiciary:

The Committee agreed, by vote, on the judges’ salaries.

The Committee is close to be able to launch the recruitment process for the UPC judges, thanks notably to the Human Resource and Training Working Group who presented a timeline and draft application. The Committee therefore decided to launch the recruitment process in Spring 2016 for the UPC to take shape before the start of the provisional application phase.

 

Fees:

The Committee  agreed on the Rules  for the Court Fees and Recoverable Costs, which it published together with the Guidelines (for the UPC judges) for the determination of the Court fees and Recoverable costs.

See our post on Monday for more details.

 

Posted on

On your marks, get set, go! Candidates Judges will be able to apply for the UPC before the end of March 2016.

UPC Judges recruitment 2019

A recent interview of Sir Robin Jacob, Chairman of the UPC Advisory Committee, gives indications as to the procedure and timeline that the UPC will follow to select and appoint judges. This selection should start within two months, with the publication at the end of February/beginning of March 2016 of an announcement and online application.

In 2013 an initial call for expression was published and received over 1300 responses, a much higher number than expected. This was not a formal job application but “an initial assessment prior to the formal application process” which allowed the UPC Advisory Committee to identify 354 eligible legally qualified judges  and 341 eligible technically qualified judges. Out of these candidate Judges,  183 required training and about 20 of them were sent to Budapest last year to learn about  basic patent law. Candidates who applied to this first call of expression and new candidates are now invited to submit their application to the new formal recruitment process.

The new online application process  should allow the Advisory Committee’s Human Resources and Training group to identify very quickly the legal, technical and languages expertise of the candidate judges and therefore facilitate the selection process. It is expected that about fifty legally and fifty technically qualified judges will be selected. The number of appointed judges will initially be kept small to match the expected workload.  A pool of appointable candidates will nonetheless be on hand to allow the UPC to respond if needed to high numbers of cases.

The fact that most judges will be working part-time for the UPC raises however two issues. First under the UPCA, national judges are allowed to work part-time at the UPC but lawyers can only do so with special permission. This, as highlighted by Sir Robin Jacob, can be a problem for countries such as the UK which have a specific tradition of using lawyers as judges on a part-time basis. Moreover, some countries do not permit their judges to be part-time, and this will necessitate an amendment of national laws.

 

 

Posted on

UPC Judges training and appointments- What are the next steps in 2016?

UPC Judges recruitment 2019

As posted here the training for 18 “Extra Training Judges”and Technically Qualified Judges started in 2015. The next steps for the nomination in 2016 of UPC Judges were discussed at the EPLAW Congress in Brussels on 7th and 8th December 2015. It appears that:

Posted on

EPLAW updates on the training of UPC Judges:

UPC Judges recruitment 2019

The European Patent Lawyers Association issued a statement to its members detailing the different training initiatives developed by the EPLAW and the EPO for candidate UPC Judges.

It appears that in 2015, the EPO Academy ran two training modules for potential UPC judges who had little judicial experience in patents or who were from countries with limited patent litigation, in which they were introduced to basic patent law and patent litigation by well-known European judges and European litigators. The EPLAW in parallel produced e-learning materials which will be published on the EPO’s website before the end of 2015.

2016 will see more training initiatives being organised. The EPLAW notably announces that it will assist the EPO with its standard training programme on infringement and litigation for judges with no or little experience in patent litigation in the EPC countries, and act as representatives in mock trials. Finally, the EPO Academy plans “to run workshops and mock trials for those experienced European patent judges who have applied to be UPC judges concentrating on familiarising them with the Rules of Procedure and the Agreement of the UPC”.

 

Posted on

The training of the UPC Technical Judges has started in Strasbourg.

UPC Judges recruitment 2019

The training of the UPC technical judges started last week (on 24th September 2015) at the CEIPI in Strasbourg. The programme will be taught over a period of three weeks between September and November 2015, and  from Thursday to Saturday, in order to facilitate the attendance of the participants.

Designed specifically for the UPC technical judges, the training “addresses the specific legal skills that judges must have, and includes as well the training on the fundamentals of fair trial and due process in the context of patent law. The program encompasses a range of intensive thematic and specialized modules, particularly crafted to respond to the needs of technically qualified judges.” It thus aims at ensuring that the participants have a sufficient knowledge of the law while offering specialised trainings on a range of key technical issues of tailored to the Unified Patent Court context.

It is divided between three modules and eight topics. Module 1 looks at “Judicial Ethics“, “The UPC fundamental principles and fair trial“, “Competition law and the UPC” and “Legal Skills“. Module 2 focuses on “Applicable substantive law and patent holder rights” and “The UPC and its rules of procedure“. Finally, Module 3 is concerned with “Enforcement” and “Expertise and Witnesses“.  In order to meet the challenges of training these new technical judges on a theoretical and practical level the training will be structured around lectures “combined with a intense analysis of jurisprudence and practical exercises, including workshops with case studies and two moot court exercises“.

Posted on

The UPC Preparatory Committee publishes a new roadmap

Brexit and the German constitutional challenge

The Preparatory Committee published last Tuesday (16/09/2014)  an updated roadmap which highlights the amendments to key millstones towards the delivery of the European Package.

If this new version of the roadmap starts with the work completed in 2014, most of it is dedicated to the ongoing work divided into five areas of work: the Legal Framework, the Financial Aspects, IT, the Facilities, and the Human Resources and Training.

Here are the main points of the new roadmap:

 

Legal framework:

  • The Preparatory Committee plans for the Rules of Procedure to be agreed upon in May 2015  after being amended and reviewed by a first team.
  • The rules on Legal Aid were discussed in July 2014 and a final draft will be agreed by January 2015.
  • A consensus was reached in July 2014 on the proposals on the Rules for the Administrative Committee of the UPC and on the Budget Committee of the UPC.
  • A second report is expected in November 2014 on Mediation and Arbitration.
  • A revised draft for the Rules of the litigation certificate for Patent Attorneys is expected for early 2015, after a public consultation in June and July 2014 on the first draft published in March.

 

Financial aspects:

  • A final agreement on financial regulations which includes the provisions concerning the establishment, structure and implementation of the budget, internal control and audit procedure is scheduled for October 2014. `

 

  • An evaluation of the budget must also be done in order to quantify the operational costs for the next seven years while taking into account that during the transitional period many costs will be borne by the Signatory States hosting seats or divisions of the Court.

 

Legal Framework and Financial Aspects on Court fees and Recoverable costs:

The Legal Framework team and the Financial Aspects team are both responsible for the Court fees and the recoverable costs. While the legal group will primarily assume the responsibility for the establishment of a schedule of the different fees, the financial group will determine the amount for those different fees of the court.

“A schedule for the Court fees, containing of a fixed fee as well as a value based fee above the defined ceiling of the fixed fee shall be established. Also a method for the calculation of the value of the case shall be defined. The question of court fees is also dealt with by the financial group. (…)  A scale of recoverable costs shall be adopted, which shall set ceilings for such costs by reference to the value of the dispute. ”

The discussion on Court fees will start at the end of 2014 and will be followed in spring 2015 by the consultation on fees which will then allow the budget for the first year to be finalized.

 

Human Resources and Training:

  • The training of candidate judges, the nomination of the first group of judges, and the organisation of the first pool of judges seem to be a priority for the Preparatory Committee. The Preparatory Committee is focusing at the moment on a provisional intensive training for candidate judges which should run during  the preparatory phase and the first year of the UPC. Preparations for this training have hence started with the first training programs expected to start before the end of December 2014. This first training initiative will then be followed by a “permanent training framework, that shall be further developed and endorsed by the Administrative Committee once established “.

 

  • For legally qualified judges, training should consist of advanced courses in patent law and patent litigation, possibly combined with mock-trials and internships at patent courts in countries with highly specialized and highly experienced patent courts as well as courses on the UPC Agreement and the Rules of Procedure. For technically qualified judges training should consist of basic concepts of patent law relating in particular to the validity and basic concepts of civil procedure, as well as training on the UPC Agreement and the Rules of Procedure. For both legally and technically qualified judges language training should allow judges to work on files and participate in deliberations on a patent case in at least one language which is not their mother tongue.

 

  • Preparations are also being made for the nomination of judges. A pre-selection process was concluded in July 2014, and a provisional list of suitable candidates was approved by the Committee.  The final number of judges however will be determined  with regard to the number of cases and divisions. It is thus assumed that in the early years, the UPC will work as much as possible with part-time judges and (in particular in the local divisions with high workload, the central division and the Court of Appeal) a limited number of full-time judges. Hence, “recruitment of the first judges of the UPC will aim at appointing a sufficient number of part-time and full-time judges before the entry into operation of the UPC and to create a reserve list of judges who could be appointed should the case-law increase more than expected.”