GRUR/uni.lu Joint Conference 2024 - Intellectual Property and the European Courts

Update 25 April 2024


The event is fully booked and there are currently no free seats available.

placed on the waiting list and contacted when a seat becomes available due to cancellations.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.


**********************

Update 17 April 2024


REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN - REGISTER NOW

GRUR and the University of Luxembourg (uni.lu) are jointly organising the GRUR/uni.lu Joint Conference, a full-day event which will take place on Wednesday, 5 June 2024 on-site at the Palais of the CJEU in Luxembourg.

The topic of the conference, which will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Martin Stierle from the University of Luxembourg, is "Intellectual Property and the European Courts". The conference will be opened by Judge Lars Bay Larsen, Vice President of the CJEU and Dr Gert Würtenberger, President of GRUR.

The conference is organised in close cooperation

with various national and European associations and institutions. This

event promises the possibility to network with experts of the IP

community from different European countries.


PROGRAMME

In light of the manifest impact

European courts have on intellectual property (IP) law, our one-day conference

at the premises of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) intends to shine a spotlight

on the vital role such courts play in shaping how we perceive, protect and enforce IP rights. We bring together

renowned speakers from around Europe, including judges of the European courts, prominent attorneys, and leading academics, to discuss current developments

in IP law.

After a welcome breakfast and

opening remarks, our first presentation will focus on the recent case law of

the Court of Justice (ECJ). It will demonstrate the essential role of the ECJ

in all fields of IP law. As we are coming up on the first

anniversary of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), we will devote the rest of our

morning session and the beginning

of the afternoon to patent law topics.

The first presentation of this session

will demonstrate the standards the new UPC has

applied when issuing (or not issuing) preliminary injunctions. After a joint lunch, three speakers

will give us their thoughts

on whether and, if so, how the UPC is steering

toward an autonomous understanding of patent law. Thereafter, the programme

will shift away from patents to other IP rights. The

following session will cover current issues and developments in copyright and trademark law with a particular focus on the role of the CJEU. In that regard, the presentations of our

two invited speakers will discuss how the ECJ has constructed the right of

communication to the public and examine the General Court’s approach to weak

elements in trademark cases.

At the close of our conference, our attendees are invited to join us for a reception at which conference participants will have a final opportunity to mingle, allowing them to greet old friends and make new connections with

others working in the same field.

DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAMME FLYER

MORNING SESSION:

Opening remarks by

• Judge Lars Bay Larsen, Vice President of the ECJ, Luxembourg
  
  
• Dr Gert Würtenberger, President of GRUR, Attorney-at-law, Munich
  
  
• Prof. Dr Martin Stierle, Associate Professor in Intellectual Property Law, University of Luxembourg
  
  

"The role played by the Court of Justice with respect to the

unity, consistency and development of IP law withing the EU. Recent case

law"

Speaker: Judge Dr Octavia Spineanu-Matei, President of the Ninth Chamber of the ECJ, Luxembourg

followed by Q&A, moderated by Prof. Dr. Martin Stierle

AFTERNOON SESSION:

I. Unified Patent Court - The first year

Confirmed speakers & topics:

• “Preliminary injunctions before the UPC - where is the threshold?"
  Judge Dr Klaus Grabinski, President of the Court of Appeal of the UPC, Luxembourg
  
  
• “How the UPC can develop and disseminate an autonomous understanding of patent law: importance of the language used"
  Judge Florence Butin, President of the Court of First Instance of the UPC, Paris
  

• “UPC developing case law: a few takeaways from the first decisions"
  Sabine Agé, Attorney, Paris
  
  
• "Determination of substantive law and methods to fill remaining gaps in proceedings before the UPC"
  Prof. Dr Mary-Rose McGuire, Chair of Private Law, Intellectual Property Law and German and European Civil Procedure Law, University of Osnabrück
  

Presentations will be followed by Q&As and a joint panel discussion, moderated by

Dr

Christof Keussen,

Co-Chair of the GRUR Expert Committee on Patent & Utility Model Law; Patent

Attorney, Hamburg.

II. CJEU - current issues and developments in EU IP law:

Confirmed speakers & topics:

• “The construction of the right of communication to the public in CJEU case law: A future-proof building?”
  Prof. Dr Eleonora Rosati, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Stockholm University
  
  
• “The assessment of weak elements in complex trademarks: the approach of the General Court”
  Judge Ulf Öberg, General Court, CJEU, Luxembourg
  
  

After the each presentation, attendees will have the opportunity to ask interact with our speakers in a moderated Q&A.

Moderators of the Q&As:

• Prof. Dr Martin Stierle, Associate Professor, University of Luxembourg
  
  
• Dr Pablo Mohr, Deputy Director, Institut de la Propriété Intellectuelle Luxembourg (IPIL), Luxembourg
  
  
• Katia Manhaeve, President of AIPPI Luxembourg; Attorney, Luxembourg

Following the working sessions, all attendees will be invited to a cocktail reception taking place from 17.45 h - 19.30 hin the beautiful "Grand Staircase hall - Salle des Pas Perdues" at level 1 of the Palais of the CJEU.

The event will be held in English language without simultaneous

translation. Please note that this is an on-site only event (no hybrid,

no streaming, no recording). The

conference is free of charge and open for GRUR members as well as

non-members but requires a binding registration by 15 May 2024.


REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

Room capacities are strictly limited to 118 seats and we want to make use of every single one of them. We therefore ask you to submit your registration as early as possible and in a binding manner.

We will close registration on 15 May 2024, 24.00 h but may close even earlier in case the event is fully booked.

The workshop is eligible for 5.75 hours of continued professional education according to § 15 FAO. In that case, be aware that we will check your continued participation during the event.


HOW TO REGISTER ONLINE

Please scroll down to the file tabs, click on the tab "Register/ Anmelden" and enter your data. Then click on "register". You will automatically receive a registration confirmation with organisational details by email.

After receipt of this confirmation, please send us your birth date & place personally via email (to: s.vonlingen@grur.org). This is a pre-requirement for the security check-in and access to the Court building.


HOW TO REGISTER VIA E-MAIL

If

you prefer to register by e-mail or already wish to secure your place

today, please send a message with your full contact details to s.vonlingen@grur.org

including your date & place of birth, the information whether or not you are a GRUR member, and

whether or not you wish to receive a certificate of attendance. After

successful registration you will receive a booking confirmation as well

as organisational information.


SECURITY & ACCESS PROVISIONS OF THE COURT

Entrance to the venue - the CJEU´s Court Building PALAIS - is submitted to a strict security check-in procedure which takes around 45 minutes for the entire group. Therefore,

• A prerequisite for admission to the courthouse is that you inform us in advance of your date and place of birth. You can do this by sending an email to s.vonlingen@grur.org.
  
  
• Admission to the courthouse also requires a very timely arrival so that the security check-in for all attendees can be processed in a smooth and timely manner. Check-in time is between 8.00 and 8.30 am. Late arrivals may not be able to checked-in any more.
  
  
• Please have your identity card ready and respect the Court´s security provisions, especially the list of prohibited weapons, which you can download here: https://police.public.lu/en/legislation/armes-prohibees.html.
  
• The courthouse hosts special art exhibitions and permanent art exhibits. All visitors are requested to show utmost consideration for the art and exhibits and, above all, not to touch them.

Once

in the building, it won´t be possible to leave the site and enter

again, so all delegates are requested to stay inside of the building and

in the conference area for the duration of the event.

This all sounds quite

complicated but once you are in the building, we will reward you with a

nice welcome breakfast and a high-level conference, two coffee breaks and an evening reception :-)


CANCELLATION POLICY

If you have registered but will not be able to attend the event, please cancel your registration no later than 15 May, 24.00 h

so that we can allocate your seat to someone on the waiting list. You

can send a replacement person but we will need their registration date

no later than 15 May to put them on the group list.

By submitting your registration

for this event, you acknowledge and agree that in case of no-show or cancellation after 15 May, GRUR is entitled to charge a no-show and/or cancellation fee

of € 200.


CONTACT FOR REQUESTS

For any questions please send an Email to Ms. Sandra von Lingen (s.vonlingen@grur.org), GRUR Senior Manager International Affairs & Publications.