No stay of revocation proceedings pending EPO opposition, appeal rejected. (Article 33(10) UPCA; Rule 295(a) RoP).
Oral proceedings in the opposition is 25 October 202; scheduled date for the oral hearing in the revocation proceedings before the UPC is 21 June 2024.
As a general principle, the Court will not stay proceedings.
The mere fact that the revocation proceedings before the UPC relate to a patent which is also the subject of opposition proceedings before the EPO is not sufficient to allow an exception to the principle that the Court will not stay proceedings.
The principle of avoiding irreconcilable decisions does not require that the UPC always stay revocation proceedings pending opposition proceedings.
The mere fact that the EPO has granted a request to accelerate the opposition proceedings is not sufficient to stay revocation proceedings before the UPC.
Panel of three legally qualified judges (Article 9 UPCA).
No reason for the Court of Appeal to depart from its case law that an appeal may be adjudicated by a panel of three legally qualified judges if the subject matter of the appeal proceedings is of a non-technical nature only and there are no technical issues at stake. No ground for requesting the CJEU to issue a preliminary ruling on the question of whether the Court of Appeal can determine its own composition.
