SOMMARIO: 1. L’accordo istitutivo del Tribunale unificato dei brevetti e i suoi rapporti con la cooperazione rafforzata per l’istituzione di una tutela brevettuale unitaria. – 2. La competenza del Tribunale unificato e il ruolo residuale dei giudici degli Stati membri contraenti dell’accordo istitutivo. – 3. Il coordinamento con la disciplina della competenza giurisdizionale in materia civile e commerciale contenuta nel regolamento UE n. 1215/2012 (c.d. “Bruxelles I-bis”). – 4. La proposta di modifica del regolamento “Bruxelles I-bis” presentata dalla Commissione europea: in particolare, l’estensione della competenza giurisdizionale del Tribunale unificato dei brevetti in quanto autorità giurisdizionale comune a più Stati membri. – 5. Segue: i rapporti con i giudici dei paesi membri non contraenti dell’accordo istitutivo
del Tribunale unificato dei brevetti. – 6. Considerazioni conclusive.
ABSTRACT: The present study deals with the agreement establishing a unified patent court signed by 25 EU Member States on 19 February 2013 and its impact on the rules on jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters as contained in Regulation (EU) No. 1215/2012 (s.c. “Brussels I-bis”), which is deemed to replace shortly the existing Brussels I Regulation. The study analyzes the proposal submitted by the European Commission on 26 July 2013 (COM(2013) 554 final) providing for the amendment of Regulation Brussels I-bis in order to ease the application of the rules on jurisdiction as contained in the Regulation to the unified patent court, as a judicial body common to the Member States having established it. The amendments proposed by the Commission appear welcome in that they provide for the
enlargement of the territorial scope of the competence of the unified patent court, a competence which the agreement itself grants as exclusive. Nonetheless, the proposal falls short of addressing effectively the problem of coordination of the exclusive jurisdiction provided for under Article 24.4 of the Regulation (i.e. Article 22.4 Brussels I) in respect of actions concerning registration or validity of intellectual property rights including European patents with other heads of jurisdiction such as that provided for under Art. 7.2 of the same Regulation (i.e. Article 5.3 Brussels I) in respect of actions in matters of tort or delict, such as those concerning infringement of the same rights.
