EARLIER today we saw Hogan Lovells' Emma Fulton speaking of the UPC as though it exists. It's a self-promotional JD Supra 'article' in which she wrote: "Given that the UPC’s jurisdiction is supposed to be exclusive for SPCs based on unitary patents or European patents that have not been opted out, it is curious that the Patent SI seems to contemplate that the comptroller also has jurisdiction to hear such challenges. However, this will only become relevant in practice if there is a “no deal” Brexit on 29 March and the UPC comes into force with the UK as a member."
"This is much more than laughable; the problem is, people pay this firm a lot of money for legal advice (we guess about 200 pounds per hour) and they're being lied to. Moreover, this firm keeps lying to public officials; it's their lobbying strategy."There are three issues with that statement/paragraph; first of all, by all indications there will be extensions and thus no answer about the UK's status any time soon. Moreover, there are those two old lies right there. UPC isn't happening (they pretend the only uncertainty concerns British participation) and the UK cannot participate either way. Team UPC likes to always interject Milan as a contingency, failing (intentionally) to note that it would require a wholly new ratification process.
So basically, the above is wrong; the premise is fundamentally wrong. The post is about supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) -- another bunch of nonsense that Team UPC (and notably Bristows in the UK) likes to promote.
Speaking of which, desperate for an illusion of progress, Bristows has just brought up Milan again. "The Italian Ministry of Justice announced in 2016 that a local division of the UPC will be in Milan (in an existing court building at via San Barnaba 50)," writes Gregory Bacon this week, but so much has happened since. UPC is now dead. Here they are talking about robes and venues!
This is much more than laughable; the problem is, people pay this firm a lot of money for legal advice (we guess about 200 pounds per hour) and they're being lied to. Moreover, this firm keeps lying to public officials; it's their lobbying strategy. ⬆