As of 1 September 2013, the statutory venue for new civil IPR cases (IPR disputes, IPR petitions and IPR registration appeals) in Finland has been the Market Court. Previously, such cases were processed in civil courts (district courts, courts of appeal and the Supreme Court). The reform is significant in many ways.
One of the most concrete results of the reform is that several district court judges who possess special experience and know-how of IPR-issues have moved to the Market Court. It can be said that the IPR-related know-how of the Finnish judiciary is now centralized under the Market Court.
From the procedural point of view, a notable change is that the Market Court, which is an administrative court, now also has jurisdiction with respect to IPR-related precautionary measures, interim relief, claims for damages and other such issues. These had previously been the sole domain of civil courts. The avenue of appeal in civil IPR cases is also different now. Market Court decisions in IPR cases can only be appealed in the Supreme Court if it grants a leave of appeal.
The procedure in the Market Court is regulated by several procedural laws. Applicable provisions can be found in the Act on the Market Court, the Administrative Judicial Procedure Act and the Code of Judicial Procedure. The laws contain several references to each. Many provisions provide, for example, that "the relevant provisions of the Code of Judicial Procedure shall apply where applicable." Counsels may find this confusing.
On 3 September, the Market Court issued its guidelines for counsels in IPR cases ("Guidelines"). The Guidelines have provoked surprisingly little discussion thus far. This is somewhat surprising because the Market Court obviously finds it important that counsels actually follow the Guidelines. Otherwise, the highly detailed Guidelines would most likely not have been issued.
The key points of the Guidelines (which can be found in Finnish language on the Market Court's web page) are highlighted and briefly discussed below.
The explicit aim of the Guidelines is to clarify the Market Court procedure for counsels and to attract their attention to the procedural practice applied by the Market Court. The Guidelines also aim to function as a tool that helps the counsels to argue their cases in a way which ensures that they are processed quickly and effectively and eventually receive high-quality decisions.
The Guidelines include quite detailed instructions as to what specific information counsels shall include in their written submissions (statements of claim, statements of defense etc.) and how they shall present their cases in their written submissions. The instructions deal with, for example, the following components of the parties' written submissions:
- Introduction into the case (clear and compact)
- Claims (clear, concise and exhaustive)
- Legal facts (the circumstances on which the claims are legally based)
- Numbered list of other facts that are deemed relevant (those real-life facts which form the basis of the above legal facts)
- Admission or denial of each numbered statement of fact presented by the adverse party
- Numbered list of written and oral evidence (including the themes for all evidence)
- Comments on procedural issues
The Guidelines include several concrete examples of how the Market Court expects the counsels to present the above components in their written submissions.
The Guidelines also contain instructions to counsels as to how they should present their IPR cases in the preparatory hearings and the main hearing as well as how claims pertaining to precautionary measures or interim relief should be addressed. They also explain and give advice regarding the applicable procedure in IPR registration appeals.
All in all, the Guidelines are a welcome tool for all practitioners. It remains to be seen how carefully and quickly counsels will adhere to the Guidelines in the Market Court and whether the desired format of written submissions will become more widely applied in other court procedures as well.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
