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House of Lords committee expresses its concern on UK government’s UPC decision

31.03.2020

On 27 March 2020, the UK parliament’s House of Lords EU Justice Sub-Committee published a review of progress in discussions on the future UK-EU relationship in certain sectors. As well as summarising the state of play, the paper highlights areas of concern.  Regarding intellectual property, the paper states: “The UK Government recently informed the industry that it no longer intends for the UK to participate in the Unified Patent Court system. This is a new system, still in the process of being established, that would allow inventors to apply for a single patent that will then be recognised by all participating states. Although primarily involving European countries, the system sits largely outside of EU law and EU institutions, and so advocates in the sector had hoped participation would not be affected by Brexit. Witnesses at the Committee’s evidence session on 10 March expressed their disappointment in the decision and their belief that Brexit should not need to affect the UK’s participation.” 

Richard Pinckney

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