Doctrine of Equivalence – UPC and beyond
Speakers: Julia Schönbohm, Bolko Ehlgen & Charlotte Kieslich
In episode 2, our experts Julia Schönbohm and Bolko Ehlgen join host Charlotte Kieslich and dive into the doctrine of equivalence, a critical and complex area of patent litigation. In addition, they pick up recent developments on long‑arm jurisdiction following the first episode of our podcast series. They explore:
- Long‑arm jurisdiction update: how the Court of Appeal has clarified and limited the UPC’s cross‑border patent jurisdiction
- Doctrine of equivalence at the UPC: why “words have limits” and how courts are using equivalence to balance fair protection for patentees with legal certainty for competitors
- Functional construction first, equivalence second: how the NanoString v. 10x Genomics framework and a more functional claim construction can reduce the need to rely on equivalence
- No harmonised test (yet): divergent Local Division approaches and the crucial role of the Court of Appeal in bringing about uniformity
- Practical takeaways for litigants: why parties are already testing the doctrine of equivalence at the UPC, and how to deal with the current uncertainty of the UPC equivalence test to be applied
Listen to this episode on Spotify , Apple Podcasts and PodBean.