Key Patent Developments in Europe: Insights on the UPC and Other Issues at the EPO

Join Morrison Foerster and Carpmaels & Ransford for a panel discussion exploring topics of imminent relevance in European patent law, in particular the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) and Unitary Patent (UP) systems, as well as topics currently being considered by the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO).

With the UPC and UP systems finally becoming a reality, we’ll look at what decisions need to be made before these systems come online in 2023, how clients should prepare for the change, and what might go wrong. Additionally, the EPO’s Enlarged Board is currently considering the concept of “plausibility” and is also looking at the transfer of priority rights. A hearing on plausibility is scheduled for Thanksgiving and our panel will provide an update on where things seem to be heading as well as strategic considerations. In relation to priority entitlement, this issue has the potential to significantly impact European IP rights. As widely reported, the Broad Institute’s CRISPR patent failed because of flaws in the transfer of rights during the priority year, and we’ll discuss how this issue is now being considered by the Enlarged Board.

Morrison Foerster partner Shannon Reaney will moderate the discussion featuring insights from Carpmaels & Ransford European patent practitioners Agathe Michel-de Cazotte, Cameron Marshall, Daniel Wise, Isobel Barry, Mark Chapman, and Susan Hancock.

Please RSVP here by Wednesday, November 23, 2022. We hope you can join us.

Please note that Morrison Foerster’s event policy requires all attendees to be up to date on vaccinations for COVID-19.

• Moderator: Shannon Reaney, Partner, Morrison Foerster

Shannon is head of MoFo’s Chemistry Patent practice sub-group. She works closely with clients to develop and manage patent portfolios, with particular technical emphasis on small molecules, polymers, formulations, and agricultural products.

• Agathe Michel-de Cazotte, Partner, Carpmaels & Ransford

Agathe is a partner in the Dispute Resolution practice group. She represents clients in major cross-border patent litigations and in innovation-heavy transactions.

• Cameron Marshall, Partner, Carpmaels & Ransford

Cameron focuses exclusively on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields, with an extensive EPO opposition practice (including many multi-opponent cases) that runs alongside a large prosecution practice.

• Dan Wise, Partner, Carpmaels & Ransford

Daniel specializes in biologics and pharmaceuticals, with particular expertise in protein therapeutics, medicinal chemistry, and vaccine technology.

• Isobel Barry, Partner, Carpmaels & Ransford

Isobel advises innovator pharmaceutical companies on contentious matters through all stages of the pharmaceutical product lifecycle. 

• Mark Chapman, Partner, Carpmaels & Ransford

Mark leads Carpmaels’ Biotechnology team. His impressive biotech-only practice focuses on the rapid and effective building of commercially valuable European patent portfolios for small and medium-sized clients.

• Susan Hancock, Sr. Associate, Carpmaels & Ransford

Susan’s practice focuses on obtaining patent protection for commercially valuable products and platform technologies, specializing in cell and gene therapies, genome editing, in vitro evolution, and cell engineering.