Last Friday, EPLAW held its General Assembly and Congress. It was an online event, due to the lasting Corona crisis.
After the General Assembly, including (re)election of Board Members, it was time for the Congress.
First topic to be discussed was ‘Arbitrating Patent Disputes’. Panellists Annet van Hooft (Counsel for the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris), Pierre Véron (Honorary President EPLAW), David Perkins (Croft Sollicitors, WIPO arbitrator), Michael Mcilwrath (Baker Hughes), Thierry Calame (Lenz & Staehelin) discussed the arbitration of patent disputes from various angles.
This was followed by an update on the UPC by Kevin Mooney (Simmons & Simmons), who prepared the audience for a potential further consitutional complaint in Germany.
Final topic to be discussed were recent developments from the EBA, more specifically G3/19 plant patents and G1/19 computer implemented simulations. The focus of panellistst (Syngenta), Wolfgang Sekretaruk (Deputy of the President of the Boards of Appeal), and Myles Jelf (Bristows), lied on plant protection, as G1/19 is still pending.