Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court (UPC)
Since 1 June 2023, it has been possible to obtain a European Patent with unitary effect (in short: Unitary Patent). Unitary Patents currently have effect in 17 EU member states, including Germany, France, Italy and Austria. Seven other Member States have signed but not yet ratified the agreements necessary for the unitary patent system. Spain, Poland and Croatia do not (currently) plan to participate.
The Unitary Patent comes after the grant of European Patents. The application procedure remains the same. It is only after a European Patent has been granted that a decision must be taken within one month as to whether a request for unitary effect is to be filed for that patent.
The Unitary Patent offers considerable cost advantages, particularly where patent protection is sought in several EU member states, by reducing validation and translation costs and by providing for a single renewal fee instead of several national fees.
With the introduction of the Unitary Patent, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has become operational. The UPC is a new court that rules on the infringement and validity of Unitary Patents and tradtional European patents. It has a decentralised structure with central chambers in Munich and Paris and local chambers in the member states. The Austrian local chamber is located in Vienna. This is a major step forward in the field of patent law within the EU by providing a central address for infringement and revocation actions for all participating Member States.
The UPC is staffed by highly qualified and experienced patent litigation judges and the decisions to date already show that proceedings before the UPC will be handled expeditiously and that meaningful and fair decisions will be reached.
We have already successfully represented clients in several infringement proceedings before the UPC, both as plaintiff and defendant. We can therefore assist you in obtaining Unitary Patents and represent you in infringement and revocation proceedings before the UPC with both commitment and competence.
