Required subjects for the European Patent Litigation Certificate



As discussed earlier the Draft Proposal for Rules On The European Patent Litigation Certificate And Other Appropriate Qualifications that was published allows European patent attorneys to represent parties before the unified patent court if they have a European Patent Litigation Certificate.


Having such a certificate is not required to represent parties before the UPC. For one thing, you could be a lawyer. It would also be sufficient to have a law degree in addition to being a European patent attorney.



So presumably the certificate aims to teach patent attorneys those parts of a law degree that are needed to go before the court.


The draft contains a list of 8 topics that a course for the European patent litigation certificate should cover. Below I'll categorize the requirements and compare them with a typical law curriculum.   (I have done a law bachelor, so mainly I'll compare the certificate to what happened to be required at my University).

Country overview of the unitary patent system

Not all European countries are equal with respect to the unitary patent. This is one of the more confusing aspects of the unitary patent. Below is an overview of the all European countries and how they fit in the unitary patent system.

Representing parties at the UPC by European Patent Attorneys

The new unified patent court requires parties to be represented, either by lawyers or by European Patent Attorneys. Apart from having passed the EQE the patent attorneys need additional "appropriate qualifications". Those patent attorneys that are allowed to represent parties at the UPC are registered. (Article 48 of the agreement). 

What appropriate qualifications are has been a subject for debate for a while. The agreement only stipulates that having a "European Patent Litigation Certificate" would be one way to demonstrate the appropriate qualifications. Further rules will be set by the Administrative Committee of the unified patent court.