Regulation (EU) No 542/2014 and the International Jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court

Abstract

Regulation (EU) No 542/2014 amends the Brussels I bis Regulation and establishes rules which govern, among other issues, the international jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), and the recognition and enforcement of judgments given by the UPC in Members States of the Regulation which are not Contracting Parties to the UPC Agreement. Particular attention deserves the new supplementary forum that enables the UPC to hear disputes involving defendants from third States that relate to an infringement of a European patent giving rise to damage as well inside as outside the Union. Granting jurisdiction to the UPC to adjudicate infringements outside the territory of the Contracting States to the UPC Agreement on the basis of an asset-related supplementary ground of jurisdiction as the one established under the new Regulation seems questionable.