Webinar on patent-related changes in the Protection against Infection Act and on current developments in the unitary patent system

The continuing restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic also raise many legal issues. These are the focus of a webinar series – which kicked off in June – that examines legal developments related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first instalment of the webinar was held in mid-June on patent-related changes in Germany’s Protection against Infection Act and on current developments in Europe’s unitary patent system. In this instalment, Thomas Beyer (senior manager and specialist lawyer in industrial property law at KPMG) discussed what companies need to bear in mind in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and of the recent developments in the European unitary patent system. He also presented the patent-related changes in the German Protection against Infection Act, which were enacted through the Second Law on the Protection of the Population in an Epidemic of National Importance. Since many therapeutics and vaccines are protected by patents, the legislature made it possible, in the Protection against Infection Act, for patent-protected inventions to be used in the public interest.

In addition, Beyer discussed the consequences of the UK’s exit from the EU on the unitary patent system and the ruling by the German Constitutional Court on 13 February 2020 regarding the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA), as well as the related recently published new draft legislation on approving the UPCA. This touched on what the ramifications of the UK leaving the UPCA will be and how now to divide up the jurisdiction of the central chamber in London.

The webinar can also be viewed afterwards on-demand – in German – at:
https://transcripts.gotomeeting.com/#/s/c3c438db80dde0d7d566e4c925d81e973fe7e8c12482e4b41a3ff28475192054

To receive the dial-in numbers for future free webinars or to request further information, please contact Mr Cay Horstmann at horstmann@biodeutschland.org.