Unitary patent & Unified Patent Court
The new unitary patent (UP) and, in particular, the introduction of the Unified patent Court (UPC) represent the biggest change in the European patent law in the last forty years.
The unitary patent will provide a single patent right across all participating European Union member states. It will be litigated as a single unit across the territory before the Unified Patent Court. The Unified Patent Court will also be the litigation forum for “classic” European patents. However, during a transitional period it will be possible to avoid the competence of the UPC for the non-unitary European patents by opting them out of the system.
24 out of 27 member states of the European Union have agreed to take part in the new system (subject to ratification).
The start of the system
The date of entry into force of the Unified Patent Court agreement, and, therefore, the start of the new system (UP & UPC) will be on June 1st 2023.
Ratification progress
So far, 17 states have deposited their instruments of ratification: Austria (06.08.2013), France (14.03.2014), Sweden (05.06.2014), Belgium (06.06.2014), Denmark (20.06.2014), Malta (09.12.2014), Luxembourg (22.05.2015), Portugal (28.08.2015), Finland (19.01.2016), Bulgaria (03.06.2016), The Netherlands (14.09.2016), Italy (10.02.2017), Estonia (01.08.2017), Lithuania (24.08.2017), Latvia (11.01.2018), Slovenia (15.10.2021), and Germany (17.02.2023).
United Kingdom also deposited the instrument of ratification (26.04.2018). However, withdrawal of its ratification was filed after Brexit and was effective as from 20.07.2020.
ZBM UP &UPC specialists
If you still have any questions, please feel free to contact one of our experts:
Barcelona Office
Montserrat Jané - MSc Chemistry | European Patent Attorney - Diploma on Patent litigation in Europe (CEIPI)
Noemí Daviu - MSc Chemistry | European Patent Attorney - Diploma on Patent litigation in Europe (CEIPI)
Oscar Rubio - MSc Mechanical Engineering | European Patent Attorney | Diploma on Patent litigation in Europe (Politecnico di Milano)
Laura Artigas - MSc in Telecommunications Engineering | European Patent Attorney | Diploma on Patent litigation in Europe (Politecnico di Milano)
Sergi Ruiz - BSc Mechanical Engineering | European Patent Attorney | Diploma on Patent litigation in Europe (Politecnico di Milano)
Natividad Toledo - MSc Chemistry | MSc Online Documentation | European Patent Attorney
José Ignacio Bonilla - MSc Chemistry | European Patent Attorney
Madrid Office
Carolina Janer - PhD Chemical Sciences/Biotechnology | European Patent Attorney | Diploma on Patent litigation in Europe (Politecnico di Milano)
Carlos Maíllo - PhD Biomedicine | MSc Biochemistry | European Patent Attorney | Diploma on Patent litigation in Europe (Politecnico di Milano)
Denmark Office
Peter Markvardsen - MSc Chemistry/Biotechnology | European Patent Attorney - Diploma on Patent litigation in Europe (CEIPI)
Recent tweets
If you're attending #INTA2023, let's make the most of the last days of this incredible experience! Let's meet, connect, and celebrate together for this wonderful opportunity! @INTA #trademarks pic.twitter.com/4v3bN0EEmw