On 19 October 2022, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Administrative Committee announced the appointment of 85 legal and technical judges, ready for when the UPC Agreement comes into force, likely in Spring 2023 (1 April 2023 as per the latest announcement from the UPC Administrative Committee).

Milan-based Joint Global Head of Intellectual Property, Laura Orlando, discusses the latest announcement with Amy Sandys at JUVE Patent in the article UPC divisions demonstrate clout with choice of experienced legal judges. JUVE's article examines the judges list in further detail, looking at the strength of the judicial bench, which judges have made it into UPC Court of Appeal, and whether the Administrative Committee's choices reassure Europe's patent market.

With the appointment of four legally qualified judges in Italy, Laura comments "It's exciting to see so many high-profile names from the Italian patent law world on the list. Pierluigi Perrotti and Alima Zana are two of the most senior and experienced judges of the IP Court of Milan, including in the life sciences space. This is, notably, the focus area of the former London seat of the Central Division that we hope to see coming to Milan in the not too distant future."

The Administrative Committee has also appointed an array of technical judges across the fields of biotechnology, chemistry and pharmaceuticals, electricity, mechanical engineering, and physics. Laura adds, "I am also pleased to see so many well-known Italian patent attorneys among the technically qualified judges."

The original article "UPC divisions demonstrate clout with choice of experienced legal judges" was published by JUVE Patent on 20 October 2022.

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