UPC informs about the eligibility of lodging opt-out applications in hard copy form

Taking into account sharp increase of requests on the Court’s CMS, the UPC is taking measures to ensure as far as possible the possibility to file opt-out applications during these last few days of the sunrise period (see communication on 17 and 23 May 2023).

The UPC will temporary accept the filing of opt out applications in hard copy only after the Court has established that the CMS has ceased to function. If the Court establishes such a situation due to an overstressing of the system or for any other reason, users will be immediately notified thereof on the UPC website. Such situation is currently not at hand and the CMS is operational. It needs to be made clear that already communicated periods during which the CMS will be down due to maintenance reasons do not give rise to this scenario, including the maintenance of the 31st May to promote entry into force functionalities.

If the Court establishes that the CMS is not functional, this will be notified on the UPC website. Following such notification, opt-out applications may be lodged in hard copy form. The reception of such physical opt-outs will however only be accepted when the following process is strictly observed:

1. The opt-out applications shall be lodged at the Registry of the UPC Court of Appeal, Nouvel Hémicycle, 1, rue du Fort Thüngen, L-1499 Luxembourg, during opening hours (Monday - Friday: 09-12 and 14-16 CEST),

2. All opt-out applications will have to be lodged in an USB stick hardware. The USB stick will contain:

a) all the PDF documents (including mandate if applicable) of an opt-out applications for all targeted patents, published applications and supplementary protection certificates (SPCs). Each application should contain, as file name, the EP patent number (or first patent listed, in case of multiple patents opted-out within the same application form), as follows: APP_EPXXXXXXX.pdf.

b) an excel file where the specific information of the opt-outs are recorded (see attached PDF file with instructions on what your Excel should contain);

3. You shall provide, together with the USB stick, a print out with an overview of all patents, published applications and supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) which are the subject of the opt-out application (you may use a print-out of the excel sheet under point 2(b) above). This print-out will be used together with the receipt, which will be issued by the Court, for the acknowledgment of the receipt of the hard-copy filing;

4. You shall provide an e-mail address to which the receipt of the hard-copy filing is to be sent.

If the above conditions are not met, opt-out applications filed in hard copy may be considered to not have been lodged at the Registry of the UPC or only at a point of time when these conditions have been met.

Opt-outs lodged in hard copy form through the above temporary solution may only be considered to have been lodged when they are subsequently filed electronically in the CMS, after it has been communicated by the Court on the UPC website that the CMS is functional again.