Report of the Professional Conduct Committee
G. Checcacci (IT), Chair
1) Proposals to amend the Code of Conduct
At the Council meeting C92 in May, the Code of Conduct has been amended, so that it is now ready for the entry into force of the UPC Agreement, whenever it happens.
The amended CoC has been published in OJ 6/2022. The EPO has presented to the Patent Law Committee a supporting document, agreed with epi. This document will be presented at a next meeting of the Administrative Council, for information. Anyway, the amended CoC is already in force.
The second basket of amendments, presented at the Council in previous meetings, has been put on hold for the moment. Consultations are foreseen with other epi Committees in order to arrive at an agreed proposal, for a next Council meeting.
2) Official title for epi members who are authorized to represent clients before the UPC under Art. 48(2)(3) UPCA
epi members who fulfil the conditions of Art. 48(2) UPCA will be shortly allowed to request to be inserted in the list mentioned in art. 48(3) UPCA; they will be thus entitled to represent parties before the UPC.
A quick search on the internet can show that many colleagues are preparing to the UPC also in this respect; however, lacking an official title, the designations used are many, different and premature. The definition of an official title seemed thus essential to PCC.
After fruitful discussions, first within PCC, then with EPLIT (the private association with which epi has already collaborated for the definition of the text of the draft UPC Code of Conduct, still to be adopted by the Administrative Committee of UPC), finally within the Council, the Council decided to recommend the title
European Patent Litigator
The Recommendation is published in this same issue of epi Information. Please note that the Recommendation refers to Art. 48(3) UPCA, i.e. to the official list kept by UPC. Thus -quite obviously- no epi members should use this title until their name is entered in that list.
