PMAC signed first Memorandum of Understanding with the national court in Europe

Today, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre (PMAC) and the Court of Milan - Specialised Business Division has been remotely signed by Aleš Zalar, Director of PMAC and Fabio Roia, President of the Court of Milan, marking an important step towards strengthening cooperation between PMAC and national judicial authorities.

PMAC also specialises in disputes relating to European patents, including disputes concerning national patents outside the UPC system and opted-out patents within a portfolio, as well as related licensing arrangements, trade secrets transferred as part of a transaction, and the underlying commercial relationships. Under Article 32(2) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA), matters such as patent entitlement and ownership, employee-inventor compensation, and most contractual and licensing disputes fall within the jurisdiction of national courts, in relation to both unitary patents and traditional European patents. Although these issues often arise alongside patent infringement claims, they fall outside the UPC’s jurisdiction. PMAC offers an effective avenue for resolving such disputes through arbitration or mediation, providing parties with additional options for addressing complex patent-related and commercial matters.

The MoU between PMAC and the Court of Milan aims to strengthen cooperation and promote the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms in patent and intellectual property disputes. Its main objectives include:

Promoting awareness of alternative dispute resolution procedures in general;
Facilitating access to neutral information on PMAC-administered ADR services, including information sessions, mediation, arbitration and expert determination;
Raising awareness and conducting outreach activities to encourage the use of ADR;
Providing training and building capacity in alternative dispute resolution;
Exchanging information and best practices to support effective cooperation between PMAC and national courts.

Through this initiative, PMAC and the Court of Milan seek to foster greater awareness and accessibility of ADR mechanisms, supporting the efficient and effective resolution of patent and other intellectual property disputes.

On this occasion, Aleš Zalar, PMAC Director emphasised that the MoU represents an important milestone in the development of Europe’s intellectual property dispute resolution framework. He highlighted PMAC’s role as a complementary pillar of the unified patent dispute resolution system, offering parties involved in proceedings before national courts a wide range of flexible ADR options. He expressed the hope that other national courts across Europe and beyond would follow the example set by the Court of Milan in promoting effective and accessible dispute resolution mechanisms. This view was later echoed by Simona Marzetti, Head of Division IV – European and International Affairs at the Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT) and Italy’s member of the UPC Administrative Committee.

President Roia highlighted that the Court of Milan has one of the leading divisions dealing with patent disputes and also stressed that alternative dispute resolution complements, rather than replaces, judicial proceedings. Silvia Giani, President of the Enterprise Division (Section A) at the Court of Milan, added that the memorandum is important because it provides parties with access to a specialized and flexible range of alternative procedures for resolving patent disputes, which are often technically complex.

In closing, Roberta Nocella, a judge seconded to the Italian Ministry of Justice and Italy’s alternate member of the UPC Administrative Committee, stated that the Ministry would support the protocol, including through data collection and judicial training.

The MoU was also signed in the presence of Cristiano Bacchini and Pierfrancesco Fasano, both Italian members of the PMAC Expert Committee, as well as members of the PMAC team.