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16 ERA F. 1 (2015)

handle is hein.journals/erafrum16 and id is 1 raw text is: ERA Forum (2015) 16:1-6 DOI 10.1007/s12027-015-0378-z CossMark [I ) tARIAL Judicial training in the framework of the Unified Patent Court as a prerequisite for the success of the Unitary Patent System Florence Hartmann-Vareilles1 E RA EUEOPAIECHE RECHTEAKADEMIE Published online: 18 June 2015 © ERA 2015 TRIER-TREVES The Unified Patent Court (UPC), which is to be created on the basis of an interna- tional agreement-the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (AUPC)'-will bring about profound changes to the European patent litigation landscape when that Agree- ment is ratified.2 As the first specialised court common to almost all European Union Member States, and hearing patent cases across the European Union in multinational panels, the Unified Patent Court will have unique European procedures, drawing on the best practices of existing national systems and creating innovative rules aimed at allowing effective and rapid oral hearings within a period of one year. The success of the Unitary Patent System-which is expected to begin functioning according to optimistic predictions in 2015 and according to realistic expectations in 2016-depends to a major extent on the quality and celerity of decisions which will be adopted by the legally and technically qualified judges who are appointed. Patent users have to be able to rely on a system which brings enough legal certainty and rapidity. A lack of confidence in the Unified Patent Court will jeopardise the entire structure. During a transitional period of seven years from the entry into force of the AUPC, patent owners of a European patent (without unitary effect), will have the 1Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, (2013/C 175/01), 20.6.2013, OJEU 175/1. 2For more details on the Unified Patent Court, see the Editorial written by the same author in ERA Forum 2014 (Volume 15, Number 2), pp. 160-168. For information on the ratification process, click on the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/intellectual-property/industrial-property/patent/ ratification/index en.htm. [ Head of Section - European Business Law, E Hartmann-Vareilles, avocate (FR) fhartmann @era.nt 1 Metzer Allee 4, 54295 Trier, Germany ,Springer