Who wants to be a UPC judge? Shout now if you do!
Over on the IPKat's favourite website at the moment, that of the Unified Patent Court, we find the news that Preparatory Committee is launching Expression of Interests from Candidate Judges. So basically this means that if you want to be a UPC judge, now is the time to put forward your name. The closing date for this call for interest is 15 NOVEMBER 2013. You can see the announcement, with links to the "Call for expression of interest" and "Rules of pre-selection procedure" here.
This Kat has been scrutinising the provisions for what you can do at the same time as be a UPC judge. The key bit seems to be in Article 17 of the UPC Agreement (you can find it here - sorry not the Statute as post originally said - apologies).
Basically, a legally qualified judge and full-time technically qualified judge can be a national judge but not much else, unless an exception is granted by the administrative committee. Part-time technically qualified judges can have other "functions" provided that there is no conflict of interest.
Otherwise, the requirements to be a UPC judge seem to be:
Furthermore:
But this is not what it seems, because the "expression of interest" document notes that:
So you can satisfy the patent litigation experience requirement by undergoing the UPC training which is to be provided.
So, if you are bored of your job and fancy a change of scenery, off you go!
But what will the salary be? Article 12 of the UPC Statute says it shall be set by the Administrative Committee, but no-one has yet told the IPKat how much it will be. We need to be told! Does any of the IPKat's dear readers out there know? Merpel heard a whisper that by UK standards it will not be high, but has no independent verification of this.
This Kat has been scrutinising the provisions for what you can do at the same time as be a UPC judge. The key bit seems to be in Article 17 of the UPC Agreement (you can find it here - sorry not the Statute as post originally said - apologies).
Basically, a legally qualified judge and full-time technically qualified judge can be a national judge but not much else, unless an exception is granted by the administrative committee. Part-time technically qualified judges can have other "functions" provided that there is no conflict of interest.
Otherwise, the requirements to be a UPC judge seem to be:
they must be nationals of a Contracting Member States
they must have a good command of at least one official language of the European Patent Office (DE/EN/FR)
they must be able to ensure the highest standards of competence and shall have proven experience in the field of patent litigation
Furthermore:
Candidates for legally qualified judge position must possess the qualifications required for appointment to judicial offices in a Contracting Member State;
Candidates for technically qualified judge position must have a university degree and proven expertise in a field of technology. They must also have proven knowledge of civil law and procedure relevant in patent ligation.
But this is not what it seems, because the "expression of interest" document notes that:
Candidates’ attention is drawn to the fact that according to Article 2 (3) of the Statute of the UPC, experience with patent litigation which has to be proven for the appointment may be acquired by the training framework of the UPC.
So you can satisfy the patent litigation experience requirement by undergoing the UPC training which is to be provided.
So, if you are bored of your job and fancy a change of scenery, off you go!
But what will the salary be? Article 12 of the UPC Statute says it shall be set by the Administrative Committee, but no-one has yet told the IPKat how much it will be. We need to be told! Does any of the IPKat's dear readers out there know? Merpel heard a whisper that by UK standards it will not be high, but has no independent verification of this.