The Finnish AIPPI Group organised a UPC Mock Trial together with the Market Court of Finland on Friday 21 April 2023. The event was held at the Market Court’s premises in Helsinki, Finland, where the UPC Helsinki Local Division will begin to operate as of 1 June 2023.
The distinguished mock panel was composed of three legally qualified UPC judges with Judge Petri Rinkinen (FIN) as the Presiding Judge, Judge Sam Granata (BE) as the Judge rapporteur and Judge Stefan Johansson (SWE) as the third legally qualified judge. The panel also included Kirsikka Etuaho (FIN) as a technically qualified judge.
The parties to the mock trial case were represented by the Attorneys-at-laws Juhani Sinkkonen (Roschier Attorneys) and Vilhelm Schröder (Hannes Snellman Attorneys) for the patentee’s side, and Saara Lapiolahti and Wilma Kivilä (both from Borenius Attorneys) for the alleged infringer’s side. The event was moderated by the President of the Finnish AIPPI Group Johanna Lilja.
The mock trial dealt with a “vacuum cleaner” case which explored the issues on procedure, validity and infringement in light of the upcoming UPC and unitary patent system. The mock trial kicked off with the interim conference and discussions on preliminary questions, chaired by the Judge rapporteur Granata. In the interim conference the parties presented their views on questions concerning interim question, such as choice of forum, stay of the proceedings, carve-outs, as well as the hearing of witnesses and value of the case. Thereafter, the proceedings continued with the main hearing where the invalidity action was heard first before continuing to the infringement action. Each party had 15 minutes to argue their views on both of these issues. After a short coffee break, and mock panel’s brief deliberations, the proceedings were concluded by the announcement of the “ruling”. The mock panel first presented its view on the question of validity and then, on the question of infringement. In this connection it was also discussed, for the educational purposes, various interesting questions related to the UPC and unitary patents such as how the court’s injunction orders should be worded within the UPC considering the different approaches adopted in different European jurisdictions. Finally, the mock panel discussed the calculation methods for the damages and costs of the proceedings. After the mock panel had given its ruling, the audience, both on-site and online, had the opportunity to ask questions from the judges.
The mock trial was a great success with approximately 100 persons following the event either on-site or remotely via livestream. The patent professionals are ready for the upcoming UPC which will begin to operate as of 1 June 2023.
UPC Mock Trial was sponsored by the European Patent Office.