European Patent Litigators Association

Events

Upcoming

10th Annual Meeting on 25 and 26 May in Paris

EPLIT’s 10th Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place in Paris on Friday 26 May 2023. There will also be a dinner the evening before.

This will be EPLIT’s tenth anniversary, having been founded shortly after the signing of the UPC Agreement. Remarkably, we have now entered the UPC sunrise period and can look forward to the opening of the Court on 1 June.

We therefore hope to see many of you at our Annual Meeting in Paris on 26 May 2023 (with dinner and drinks on 25 May) to celebrate this special year and EPLIT’s first decade. You will find the agenda below.

Registration

Click here to go to the registration form

Programme Thursday 25 May 2023

  • 19:30 Aperitifs and Conference Dinner (attendance fee: €200)
  • Venue: Hotel Les Jardins du Marais

Friday 26 May 2023

  • Annual Meeting (attendance fee: €250)
  • Venue: Hotel Les Jardins du Marais

Programme Annual Meeting

9:00Opening by the President, including celebration of EPLIT 10 years
9.15Appointment of new EPLIT President & Board Members
9.30 Administrative and financial overview
9.45 Presentations from Working Groups about their activities
10.00UPC official update
– Max Brunner ( French Ministry of Justice, UPC Administrative Committee, FR)
10.30Coffee break
11.00 UPC Judges Panel (moderated by Kim Finnila, FI)
 
– Florence Butin (Presidium member, President of the Court of First Instance, Paris Central Division, FR),
– Camille Lignieres (Presidium member, Paris Local Division, FR)
– Kai Härmand (Nordic-Baltic Regional Division, EE)
– Elisabetta Papa (Technically Qualified Judge, IT)
– Bernard Ledeboer (Technically Qualified Judge, NL)
12.30Lunch
14.00 The Role of Patent Attorneys before the UPC
– Micaela Modiano (Managing Partner, Modiano & Partners, IT)
 
Panel also includes, inter alia:
– Elard Schenck zu Schweinsberg (Partner at Vossius, DE)
– Marek Łazewski (Managing Partner at LDS, PL)
– Edward Oates ( Partner at Carpmaels & Ransford, UK)
– Philippe Bessière (Global Head of Patents at Pierre Fabre, FR)
15.30Coffee break
16.00Future of EPLIT
– Henri Bourgeois (Partner at Germain Maureau, FR)
16.30Concluding remarks
16.45
End of conference and drinks

Past Events

12 May 2022 – 9th Annual Meeting in Brussels

On Thursday 12 May 2022 the 9th Annual Meeting of EPLIT was held. Participants attended the meeting in Brussels or followed the sessions online. Click here for the program.

The handout of the presentations can be found under member area. Please, mail to the secretariat if you have any questions.



27 May 2021 – 8th Annual Meeting

The 8th Annual Meeting has been held online on Thursday 27 May 2021 from  14.00 till 17.30 CET.

As well as the annual update on EPLIT’s activities and progress, a panel session on oral hearings by videoconference in national proceedings across Europe has been held.  For our second panel discussion, Tessa Donavan (EPO Opposition Division Member) and Graham Ashley (former EPO Board of Appeal member) joined us to speak about the effect one year after the introduction of the 2020 EPO Board of Appeal Rule changes, in both Opposition and Appeal proceedings. Please find the presentations:

11 March 2021 – webinar on EPO video conferencing proceedings

EPLIT organized an online webinar on the EPO video conferencing (VICO) proceedings, particularly before the opposition divisions and the boards of appeal. 

  • Please click here for the handout of the Presentation “Oral Proceedings by Videoconference in Opposition” by Theodora Butkowskyj-Walkiw (EPO senior expert, member of the opposition directorate and opposition trainer | Healthcare, Biotechnology and Chemistry)
  • A panel session was given by Koen Bijvank (NL), Dr. Christian Köster (DE) and Lucy Samuels (UK), European patent attorneys, on their positive experiences and best practices in VICO proceedings

EPLIT’s 7th Annual Meeting on 15 May 2020 held online

New president and new board members

The Board of EPLIT was pleased to receive many members to the Annual Meeting online on Friday 15 May . During this meeting the Board informed on various aspects within our association, appointed its new President and nominated new Board members. The official press release can be found here.

Progress in Germany

Mr. Johannes Karcher, Head of Division for Patent Law – Head of Project Group EU-Patent and Unified Patent Court, Ministry of Justice and for Consumer Protection in Berlin gave a presentation on “UPC developments and State of Play”, during which he indicated a new bill was being drafted for ratification of the UPC Agreement by the German parliament. As recently reported, this draft bill has now been made available for comment. Further information can be found here.

6th Annual Meeting on 4-5 April 2019 in Vienna (AT)

A great 6th Annual Meeting in Vienna!

On 5 April EPLIT’s 6th Annual Meeting has been held in the Steigenberger Hotel Herrenhof in Vienna, Austria

Over 40 participants were present. The meeting was opened by EPLIT’s President Koen Bijvank by welcoming all speakers and participants. Members can find the handouts of the presentations in the Member Area

5th Annual Meeting on 13-14 May 2018 in Milan (IT)

On Monday 14 May 2018 the 5th Annual Meeting of EPLIT took place in Milan.

Over 40 participants were present. The meeting was opened by EPLIT’s President Koen Bijvank by welcoming all the distinguished speakers and participants. 

These were followed by presentations of which the following are available

Members can find the presentations by EPLIT’s board and working groups in the member area.

Please find here the link to the pictures made during the event.

European Patent Litigators Association