Casting a Worldwide Net: How Litigation Funders Can Leverage Europe’s New Unified Patent Court
The following article was contributed by Lionel Martin (Partner, August Debouzy), Pierre-Olivier Ally (Counsel, August Debouzy), Ben Quarmby (Partner, MoloLamken LLP) and Jonathan E. Barbee (Counsel, MoloLamken LLP).
Europe’s Unified Patent Court (UPC) is on the cusp of launch, confirmed for this June 1, 2023. It has been eagerly anticipated by the patent litigation community across the member states—starting with 17 European countries, but expected to extend rapidly to all of Europe minus Poland, Spain, Croatia, and, most notably, the UK.
The UPC has been long in the making: over ten years have passed since the agreement was first signed. What is to be expected of this new court, and what opportunities does it present for litigation funders?