The Unified Patent Court commenced operations on June 1, 2023.
The new Unified Patent Court deals with infringement or nullity for all participating EU member states together. Thus, the Unified Patent Court has joined the already existing national courts which deal with infringement and invalidity only for the respective country.
The Unitary Patent is an EP patent with unitary effect in all participating EU member states. This means that infringement and invalidity of a unitary patent are dealt with jointly at the Unified Patent Court for all participating member states.
The filing and grant procedure of a conventional EP patent application remains as it was. To obtain a unitary patent, a request for unitary effect must be filed within one month of the mention of the grant of the EP patent. This then results in combined protection from a unitary patent in the available countries and the conventional national parts of the EP patent in the other countries.
This means that for the states marked below in blue, only an EP patent will be available, while for the currently participating EU member states, marked in green, there will be a choice between a Unitary Patent or an EP patent.
The applicant must decide whether to have an EP application automatically granted as an EP Patent or whether a request for unitary effect to obtain a Unitary Patent in the available states (green).
The Unified Patent Court will handle infringement or revocation for all participating EU member states at once. The Unified Patent Court will work alongside the present national courts, which currently handle infringement and revocation only for their respective state.
The applicant will have to make a decision regarding whether the Unified Patent Court will be automatically competent for all their pending EP patent applications or whether an Opt out request will be filed, so that the national courts remain competent for infringement and revocation in each state.
This decision can again be based on the different factors:
What is the UPCLA network?
The UPCLA network, created in 2014, is a non-exclusive network of European lawyers and patent attorneys firms, all recognized for the excellence of their intellectual property practice by international rankings. The purpose of the UPCLA network is to plan and coordinate panEuropean patent litigation (as well as in the whole field of intellectual property in general), pending the advent of the Unified Patent Jurisdiction.
What are the reasons to choose the UPCLA network?
Proficiency
The UPCLA is a European network gathering:
Simplicity & Flexibility
A single point of contact:
Independence
All members are independent:
Inside knowledge
Find out more on the UPCLA network: upcla
Maiwald UPC videos is a comprehensive series of videos dedicated to the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court, providing you with insights on how to prepare for the new patent and the new court system. We will also provide you with strategies and roadmaps when being faced with the decisions whether a Unitary Patent or a classic EP patent may be the best option and whether the Unified Patent Court or an opt out to the national courts may be the best option.
In this video Dr-Ing. Sophie Ertl (Partner at Maiwald) gives you an overview on the new system and some guidelines on how to decide between the different options.
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In this video Dr Tobias Philipp (Patent Attorney at Maiwald) discusses translation requirements, the early request for unitary effect and the request for delay in issuing the decision to grant a European patent.
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In this video Heike Röder-Hitschke (Counsel at Maiwald) will make you more familiar with the unitary patent court, its organizational structure, jurisdiction and procedures, summarizing the basic information in order to prepare you for the next step – the decision to opt out or to stay in and make use of the new court system.
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Dr Ulrike Herr (Partner at Maiwald) explains the meaning of opting-out. Specifically, the focus is on effects and limitations of opting-out, as well as on opting-out strategies. The video will also provide a to-do-list to start with preparations for opting out.
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It has been agreed upon for several weeks and was already confirmed at the meeting of the Administrative Committee of the Unified Patent Court (UPC)
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What is the UPCLA network? The UPCLA network, created in 2014, is a non-exclusive network of European law...
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In all probability, the Unitary Patent System will kick off on 1 June 2023. Applicants of European patents which will be granted on or after that date, thus, have two options....
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Last week it was announced that the planned start of the Unitary Patent System will be postponed to June 1, 2023. Accordingly, the start of the Sunrise Period is scheduled for...
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Recently, fundamental doubts have increased considerably as to whether the timetable for the entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) presented on 6 ...
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On 6 October 2022, the Preparatory team for the Unified Patent Court...
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The Protocol on the Provisional Application of the UPCA entered into force on 19 January 2022 and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) was born as an international organisation. At ...
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In 2022, a new court system and a new patent will begin The new Unified Patent Court wil...
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In view of the forthcoming introduction of the Unitary Patent, the European Patent Office (EPO) has now declared that it will allow requesting a delayed grant and early reques...
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On January 18th, Austria has deposited its instrument of ratification on the Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on provisional application as the thirteenth m...
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As announced by a court spokesperson of the Federal Constitutional Court on 13 January 2021, the Federal Constitutional Court has asked the Federal President of Germany to pos...
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Yesterday, Thursday 26 November 2020, the German Parliament (Bundestag) adopted the draft ratification bill on the consent to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court at its 19...
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Today, the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) published its decision regarding a constitutional complaint regarding the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The Court ruled that...
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Feel free to contact our UPC taskforce if you have any questions on the Unitary Patent System: upc@Maiwald.eu
