On Saturday, 1 June 2024, the Unified Patent Court celebrated its first anniversary. The day before, Bucerius Law School and Eisenführ Speiser organised a UPC anniversary conference in Hamburg.

With 240 participants from over forty countries, including over 100 participants on site in the excellently prepared Moot Court at Bucerius Law School, the pronounced interest in the new Unified Patent Court and the findings after its first year was evident. 

The participants enjoyed a very interesting and varied keynote speech by Dr Klaus Grabinski, President of the UPC Court of Appeal, on the topic "One year of UPC, where do we stand?". This was followed by five lively panel discussions on the topics of "How does the UPC become a truly European court system?", "Damages and Costs", "External view on the UPC", "Preliminary Injunctions & Inspection Orders" and "UPC and SEP/FRAND" with a supplementary excursus on the UPC's Case Management System (CMS). 

Both the questions in the panel discussions and the subsequent discussions during the breaks and the concluding reception reflected the same picture: the new Unified Patent Court is accepted and viewed positively by both patent proprietors and procedural representatives. The handling methods of the UPCA and the Rules of Procedure, which can be recognised from the recent case law, are already being discussed intensively.

The participants and speakers agreed that the conference was a successful format in a pleasant setting. The organisers are considering a repeat next year.