Credit/source: JUVE's latest edition

Summary: The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is dead, but those who spent nearly a decade promoting it (for self-serving purposes and personal gain) refuse to let go

FOR the first time in years we're writing more about the USPTO than about the EPO. That's because UPC is likely dead in the water (for good) and not much is happening at the EPO controversy-wise; contrariwise, it seems like there's greater calm at the EPO not because things are improving but because staff (and representatives) may have given up. The EPO may never regain its edge and staff will likely become redundant in the foreseeable future, not because of these acts of 'rebellion' but because of the terrible, short-sighted policies such 'rebellions' were against. Battistelli basically doomed the Office -- a subject we'll remark more on in our next post.

Bristows LLP is nowadays consciously lying to clients, non-clients, British politicians and so on. Such is the nature of Team UPC and all the nefarious actors who are pushing 'unitary' patent fantasies. Gemma Barrett from Bristows said (a couple of days ago): "In the UK, which is hosting in London a section of the central division, the remaining piece of legislation enabling ratification was passed on 8 February 2018."

"This has been their modus operandi for a number of years and they don't like to be challenged on it (they even delete comments)."But the UPC is dead and the UK is likely to be out of the Union quite soon. Why carry on lying about it? Why make it seem like the UPC is coming to the UK? Why carry on with this, you Bristows minions? You look like pathological liars. We've grown tired of these kinds of posts. No matter what happens, they either mislead or say nothing (if the reality does not suit them they just keep silent). This has been their modus operandi for a number of years and they don't like to be challenged on it (they even delete comments).

“Google will also turbo charge patents trolls in Europe with their automated translation engine partnership with the EPO...”
      --Benjamin HenrionJust before the weekend started Brian Cordery (Bristows) wrote about two Regeneron patents (EP (UK) 1 360 287 and EP (UK) 2 264 163) and Rose Hughes wrote about Regeneron v Kymab over at IP Kat, where on the same day Annsley Merelle Ward (Bristows) promoted a Bird & Bird-sponsored event which looks (given the sponsors) like it's promoting software patents. These are all just patent maximalists looking to push their corporate agenda in the form of "blog" or "news".

"Google will also turbo charge patents trolls in Europe with their automated translation engine partnership with the EPO," Benjamin Henrion wrote yesterday. This was long foreseen as an apparatus for the UPC, but the UPC isn't happening.

Incidentally, one UPC proponent pointed out (and posted a photo of a programme) an EPO session about the UPC. Margot Fröhlinger giving talk about the UPC at the Fordham IP think tank is nothing new, so she is doing is again this month:

https://twitter.com/weberpatent/status/981969154382147584

"Expect Team UPC to start something similar all over again, maybe even an entirely renamed initiative with new euphemisms ("unified" or "unitary" is a misnomer)."In other news of interest, JUVE has this new article about the UPC complaint. "One man, one cause," it has been summarised as. "A closer look at Ingve Stjerna, the man who filed the German UPC challenge, and why the patent community should have taken him more seriously."

There are plenty of people who were involved in crushing the UPC, albeit only one who filed the constitutional complaint. In theory, even if this complaint was to be rejected/dismissed, there would still be many barriers to the UPC, the least of which is the UK/Brexit.

Expect Team UPC to start something similar all over again, maybe even an entirely renamed initiative with new euphemisms ("unified" or "unitary" is a misnomer). ⬆