Third section of UPC Central Division opening its doors in Milan on 27 June 2024
The UPC has announced today that the third section of the Unified Patent Court Central Division will officially open its doors tomorrow, 27 June 2024.
The Central Division is divided into sections, with each section of the Central Division being responsible for hearing cases directed to certain technology areas.
Up until now, the Central Division has been divided between Paris and Munich. From 27 June 2024, the Central Division will have a third section in Milan, which will be responsible for handling patent disputes in technology areas classified under WIPO IPC Section (A), human necessities, which were previously handled by the Paris seat. The classification of “human necessities” includes pharmaceutical and medical devices, agriculture, food, tobacco, home appliances, clothing, and sports and gaming. However, as reported previously, the Milan section will not be responsible for disputes concerning any patents in these technology areas with supplementary protection certificates (SPCs); such disputes will continue to be heard by the Paris section.
Therefore, following the opening of the Milan branch, the competencies of the courts will be as follows:
| Milan | Paris | Munich |
|---|---|---|
| (A) Human necessities without SPCs. | (B) Performing operations; transporting. | (C) Chemistry; metallurgy. |
| (D) Textiles; paper. | (F) Mechanical engineering; lighting; heating; weapons; blasting. | |
| (E) Fixed constructions. | ||
| (G) Physics. | ||
| (H) Electricity. | ||
| (Classes A and C) SPCs. |
Milan court announcement from the UPC
"Opening of the Milan (IT) section of the central division", published 26 June 2024.
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