On 29 January in Warsaw, a conference entitled “How to Improve the Resolution of Patent Disputes in Poland” was held, organised by the Polish Chamber of Patent Attorneys, in cooperation with the Ministry of Development and Technology and the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland. The conference was divided into three parts, during which we were able to learn about the views of various stakeholders involved in patent disputes and their resolution. The invited panellists included representatives of entrepreneurs, patent attorneys, academics specialising in patent law, judges of Polish intellectual property courts, as well as technical judges from the Swiss Patent Court and the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

During the first panel, entitled “Awaiting the Expert – the Current State”, the invited speakers discussed their experiences related to the functioning of the Polish patent court and the challenges involved in increasing the efficiency of proceedings conducted before it.

In the main part of the conference, a proposal was presented for solutions envisaging the expansion of the adjudicating panel in the Polish patent court to include a patent lay judge. The idea of using the existing institution of a lay judge to introduce a technical element into patent proceedings sparked a very lively and interesting discussion.

The final panel featured invited technical judges from the Swiss Patent Court and the UPC, who shared their practical experiences regarding the functioning of the European model of the technical judge.

We are pleased that among the many people actively involved in this event was Rafał Witek, who also served as the moderator of the first panel.

The debate initiated on specific solutions that could improve the judicial resolution of patent disputes in Poland will certainly be continued. Soon, we will present a series of posts in which we will discuss legal regulations concerning technical judges in European jurisdictions that could be adopted in Poland.