What are Technically Qualified Judges at the Unified Patent Court?

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) has at its heart the use of Technically Qualified Judges (TQJ).  But who and what are they, and what is their purpose? 

Our Dusseldorf-based lawyer and UPC Representative, Jonas Smeets, together with research associate Sabri Rihani, contributed an article on TQJs to a recent edition of GRUR Patent, a monthly journal that covers important and recent patent-related topics. 

The article reviews the reasoning for TQJs and how their implementation in the UPC system is working in practice, providing an overview of the TQJ's work before the UPC.  

Key takeaways

• The TQJ is a success story at the UPC.  The high legal quality of the UPC and its panels is complemented by high technical quality.  The TQJ is not an “add on” but an essential part of the UPC system.  
• The TQJs are allocated on a ‘best available’ fit basis and have full decision-making capacity.
• UPC judicial panels regularly comprise both legally and technically qualified judges. Having a UPC litigation team comprising both patent litigators and patent attorneys reflects that of the judicial panel, and can help ‘balance the scales’ in UPC litigation.   

Sign-in to Beck-Online to access the full article here. If you have any concerns about this for your business, get in touch with Jonas Smeets and Sabri Rihani.

Have any questions?  Please contact your usual Bird & Bird contact or email us at upc@twobirds.com to find out more.