My Lords, the amendments in this group relate to the unified patent court. Amendment 10, tabled by the noble Lords, Lord Stevenson of Balmacara and Lord Young of Norwood Green, seeks to ensure that the Secretary of State will consider setting up separate local divisions of the unified patent court in three parts of the UK should there be enough case load to justify more than one local division. As I highlighted in Committee, ensuring local access to justice is a key element of the
unified patent court. That is why the agreement makes provisions for local divisions. The agreement does not oblige participating states to host a local division, which can be set up and disbanded upon request.
It is important that the unified patent court serves the needs of businesses throughout the United Kingdom and the Government are committed to ensuring that all areas of the United Kingdom will have access to the court. I can assure noble Lords that the Government are already giving careful consideration to the number and location of local divisions that may be hosted in the UK. I cannot say at this time exactly how many local divisions the UK may host because it is not yet clear whether there will be enough cases to justify having more than one local division. The reason for this uncertainty is that there is no common agreement among the participating states on how the number of cases in each jurisdiction will be counted. It is important that a consistent approach is taken to assessing the case load in different countries. The issue will be decided by the participating states before the court comes into being.
While it is not possible to say for certain how many local divisions may be hosted in the UK, I can give noble Lords every assurance that the Government are open to locating local divisions in different parts of the UK. The Government are working closely with the devolved Administrations and the court services in Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales to ensure that the needs of businesses throughout the United Kingdom are taken into account. Noble Lords may be also interested to know that the Intellectual Property Office, in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys and the IP Federation, is running a series of stakeholder events about the unified patent court rules in early September. One of these events will be hosted in Edinburgh. Given that the issue of UK-based local divisions is already under consideration, it is neither necessary nor appropriate to prescribe in primary legislation their number and locations.
I now turn to government Amendment 11. This technical amendment to Clause 16 is intended to provide certainty that the Government will be able to establish fully the unified patent court. The amendment introduces new Section 88B into the Patents Act 1977. It does not extend the scope of the power conferred by Section 88A of that Act. The necessity of tabling an amendment to this clause has only recently come to light as a result of the ongoing legal analysis being conducted as part of the implementation process. That analysis has identified a potential uncertainty which could, if not addressed now, result in a significant delay in bringing the unified patent court into effect.
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The unified patent court agreement effectively sets up a new international organisation, part of which will be based in the United Kingdom. It is usual that any agreement which sets up an international organisation would include limited provisions as necessary for the fulfilment of that organisation’s purpose. The unified patent court agreement does not make specific provisions for all the necessary privileges and immunities that are likely to be required for the court to fulfil its function.
For example, there are no provisions relating to the terms and conditions of staff other than the judges of the court. As a consequence, it is likely that the UK and the other participating states will need to finalise a further set of detailed provisions on privileges and immunities for the unified patent court.
It is normal that such an agreement would be given effect in UK law using an order under the International Organisations Act 1968. However, due to the way the unified patent court agreement is drafted, it is not clear that the International Organisations Act 1968 applies to the court. To avoid any doubt, it is prudent that we make this provision in primary legislation now in order to clarify that the International Organisations Act will apply to the unified patent court. A similar approach was taken to give effect in the UK to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Subject to the agreement of the House, I will move Amendment 11 in turn. I ask the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.