Unitary Patent Court Agreement

Following Germany's ratification of the Unitary Patent Court Agreement, the 1 June 2023 commencement date has been confirmed.

From commencement, applicants for European Patents will be able to choose a unitary European patent for the 17 ratifying states instead of having to validate their European patent individually in each of these states.

Furthermore, such Unitary Patents and existing bundles of national patents in the ratifying states will fall within the jurisdiction of the Unitary Patent Court.

The new system is intended to cut the cost of obtaining and enforcing patents throughout Europe.
Whilst the UK is not a signatory to the agreement, UK-based patent attorneys will have rights of representation before the court and we look forward to representing our clients in this new forum.

In the run up to commencement, it is possible to take action to delay grant of currently pending European applications to enable applicants to obtain a unitary patent. For those who prefer to let the new Court bed-in for a while, it is also possible to opt your European patents out of its jurisdiction in advance of commencement.

Please contact us to discuss the best approach for your European patent portfolio.