Insights
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the Unitary Patent

NAVIGATING THE NEW EUROPEAN PATENT SYSTEM

Strategic advisory

After years of debate and preparation, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) started accepting cases on 1 June 2023. From the same date European patents were able to be granted unitary effect (so-called "unitary patents" (UPs). Click on the boxes towards the bottom of this page to find out more about the UPC and unitary patent and a strategic approach to the new court system and see our UPC blog post series here for updates.

The introduction of the European patent package involved the creation of a single court in which to hear European patent disputes (the Unified Patent Court (UPC)) and unitary patent right (UP), across most of the EU, and is the culmination of decades of work.

Now the new system is in place, it brings with it fundamental changes to the way in which patents can be litigated and granted in Europe. Once the UPC was in place, the new UP right was able to be granted (as an option at the grantof an EP – strictly a UP is an EP "with unitary effect"). Those UPs granted up to 31 August 2024 cover the original 17 EU Member States which had fully ratified the UPC Agreement (UPCA) when the UPC commenced. Those granted from 1 September 2024 will also cover Romania which became a full member of the UPC group of countries from this date.

Those not wishing their current European patents (EPs) and any granting over the next 7 years (during the UPC transition period) to be subject to the UPC's jurisdiction, can opt their EPs out of the UPC's jurisdiction. However once the transition period is over, all newly granting EPs will be subject to the jurisdiction of the UPC exclusively.

Our UPC & UP hub will help you examine the issues below and assess their impact on your business:

How your existing and future European patents are/will be impacted by the new system?
How to use the one-stop-shop nature of patent enforcement in the era of the UPC to your benefit?
What opportunities and risks are presented by the parallel jurisdiction of the UPC and national courts over European patents during the transition period?
What risks are there for parties brought into the UPC system as defendants and facing pan-European injunctions and damages and what defensive strategies can be employed?
What is the picture for unitary patents, the new supra-national patent right for Europe?
What should your business be doing to take advantage of the opportunities of this new patent system and minimise the risks?

For help and commentary on all these issues, please see our quick guide to the UPC and unitary patents (via the boxes below) and in particular read our series of feature articles published in PLC Magazine here and on our IP Notes blog posts on UPC and UP developments here.

How we can help

Our fully integrated, market leading team, is on the ground in France, Germany, Italy and the UK and has decades of experience in running multi-jurisdictional patent litigation in respect of our clients' most valuable products, including experience in the jurisdictions which will inform the UPC's procedure in due course.

We are able to use legal, technical and strategic skills from across our whole European team to give you the best advice on your UPC or national matters, with the qualifications necessary to handle cases whether they are in the UPC or key national courts.

The new UPC court system has jurisdiction over EPs in all participating EU member states (currently 18), but litigation will also need to continue in non-participating EPC states, including the UK and the six EU member states that have not yet ratified the UPC Agreement (three of which have declared it their intention not to join at all), and in national courts of participating states in relation to EPs opted out of the UPC's jurisdiction.

So, the picture for patent litigation across Europe is more multi-jurisdictional than ever. Our team has unrivalled experience the execution and management of multi-jurisdictional patent litigation, which will still be a key element of patent enforcement in Europe.

For more information and advice on the new system, please contact Laura Orlando, Sebastian Moore, or any of the other key contacts listed below.

UPC latest news

The UPC at 18 months

30 January 2025

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is undoubtedly a success as a forum for the enforcement and revocation of European patents (EPs). The UPC Registry's statistics, for the first 18 months of the UPC being available to hear cases, show that the new court has gathered a significant amount of business. There were 239 infringement actions and 55 standalone revocation actions filed in that time. This is also notable as we are still within the transitional period (which has over five years at least left to run) where, in most situations, there is still a choice to enforce or invalidate EPs via national courts instead of the UPC. Applications to the UPC are increasing at a significant rate in every 6 month period as the new system gains the recognition and confidence of stakeholders.

More news on the UPC

In the media: HSF on the UPC & UP

What's trending at the UPC? Is the UPC developing into a patentee friendly forum?

11 February 2025

In this short video, Andrew Wells and Rachel Montagnon discuss how the UPC is being used by stakeholders, including the rapid increase in its popularity as a forum for the resolution of European patent disputes over its first 18 months.

Rachel and Andrew comment on the likelihood of the transitional period being extended, review some of the key areas of law and jurisdiction that have been addressed by the court and consider whether the UPC's jurisprudence is developing in a patentee-friendly way or not.