The Preparatory Committee’s consultation on the draft proposal on the European Patent Litigation Certificate (EPLC) and other appropriate qualifications closed on 25 July 2014.  The proposal set out draft rules under which European Patent Attorneys will be qualified to represent parties before the UPC (pursuant to Article 48 of the UPC Agreement).  Organisations which have published their responses include the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), the European Patent Litigators Association (EPLIT) and, from the UK, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA), the IP Federation and the Intellectual Property Lawyers’ Association (IPLA) – these responses (together with the draft rules and explanatory memorandum) are available in our UPC Legislation and documents section HERE (in “The UPC” subsection).  The European Patent Lawyers Association (EPLAW) endorsed the views of CCBE (but did not make a detailed submission of its own).