European Patent Litigators Association

UPC Code of Conduct Enters into Force

Earlier this month (February 2023), the UPC Administrative Committee approved a Code of Conduct for representatives with respect to all activities related to proceedings before the UPC. The representatives appearing before the UPC may be subjected not only to the Code of Conduct but at the same time also to the respective national and supranational regulations (in particular epi and CCBE). The now-approved document thus establishes a code of conduct in its own right for the procedure before the UPC and is complementary to the national professional regulations.

The development of the Code of Conduct passed through several stages and involved the contribution from different groups. In 2016, the Preparatory Committee of the UPC approved a Code of Conduct in draft form. Before, EPLIT and further organizations (EPLAW, epi, IPLA, and CCBE) as well as the UPC Expert Panel elaborated proposals and further contributed to the development of the draft. Herein, a particularly important function was held by Kim Finnilä, EPLIT Board member and Code of Conduct working group leader, who is a key architect of the document. The UPC Administrative Committee only editorially amended the draft and approved it otherwise unchanged.

The Code of Conduct is available here.

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European Patent Litigators Association