Editorial
M. Névant (FR), Editorial Committee
Never say never again?
J’ai hésité à intituler cet éditorial « La Nuit des Juges »“The Star Chamber” / „Ein Richter sieht rot“, film réalisé en 1983 par Peter Hyams, dans lequel des juges instaurent un tribunal officieux qui « ordonne » la liquidation de meurtriers innocentés trop facilement lors de leur jugement ou ayant profité des failles du système judiciaire américain.
A parallel could be drawn, in a different context, with our day-to-day work. There is indeed (as we speak) a growing rivalry between the judges of first instance of the Unified Patent Court and the members of the technical Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office. It seems that it is up to those who are most zealous to decide the fate (to the detriment of the Proprietors) of European patents granted by an Examining Division or maintained in amended form by an Opposition Division.
Wenn sich dieser Trend bestätigt, dürfte er all jene in ihrer Meinung bestärken, die seit einiger Zeit die Qualität der vom Europäischen Patentamt erteilten Patente kritisieren. In einer Zeit, in der Europa von allen Seiten (geo-)politisch angegriffen wird und die jüngsten politischen Ereignisse nicht sehr beruhigend sind, ist es jedoch nicht sicher, ob eine Schwächung unseres Patent-Ökosystems willkommen ist.
Back to the title, this is my last editorial as I am stepping down as Chairman of the Editorial Committee. I have enjoyed writing all these editorials since I took over from the late Terry Johnson at the end of 2017 (phew! time flies!). It has been sometimes challenging to find ideas that may be off the mark and I sincerely hope that the content of these editorials has not discouraged you from continuing to read our Journal! Needless to say, nothing would have been possible without the support of my fellow Committee members, including, it goes without saying, Sadia Liebig. A big warm thanks to all of them.
