A European Patent Attorney may represent a party before the UPC provided he has the appropriate qualifications. These qualifications are defined by the “Rules on the European Patent Litigation Certificate and other appropriate qualifications” (or REPLC).
In particular, Rule 12 of the REPLC introduces transitional provisions of the “grandfather clause” type.
Thus, for a period of one year from the entry into force of the UPCA, some qualifications are considered to be appropriate qualifications for European patent attorneys.
Among these, Rule 12 of the REPLC cites the training provided by the Centre d’Etudes Internationales de la Propriété Intellectuelle (CEIPI), namely:
- the courses leading to the Diploma on Patent Litigation in Europe (or “Patent Litigator”) and
- the courses leading to the Diploma of international studies in industrial property (specialized in patents)(or “CEIPI brevets”).
To benefit from this grandfather clause, it is therefore necessary to register with the UPC Registry by 1st June 2024 via the UPC CMS.
The representative has in particular to create an account on the UPC CMS before 1st June 2024, using an eIDAS certificate (for secure authentication). Once this account has been created, the appropriate supporting documents must be provided in electronic format, together with a letter requesting registration as a representative.