Unified Patent Court (UPC)
The Unified Patent Court is a court common to all countries that are members of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court. It will be the only competent court for unitary patents and existing European patents that have been validated in the countries where the Agreement will apply.
European patent with unitary effect. Unitary patent
It is a European patent whose scope of protection covers the countries of the European Union that have ratified the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court. Under the previous system, this effect had to be validated and upheld in each of the selected countries separately, and in the case of court proceedings, separate proceedings had to be carried out for each country. The unitary patent provides protection in 18 countries with reduced costs of maintaining protection, and additionally, court proceedings, regardless of the number of countries where the infringement occurred, will be pending before one court, i.e. before the Unified Patent Court.
The procedure for applying for a unitary patent
After publication of the information on the grant of the patent in the European Patent Bulletin, the applicant has one month from the date of publication of the information to file an application for registration of a European patent with unitary effect.
A translation of the content of the patent must be submitted with the application for registration. If the language of the entire procedure for applying for a patent was English, a translation into a language of one of the European Union countries, e.g. Polish, should be submitted. If the language of the proceedings was German or French, an English translation must be submitted.
If the application for registration of a unitary patent contains formal deficiencies, the holder has 1 month to complete them.
If the application is not filed within one month of the publication of the patent grant, the deadline may be reinstated for a fee, subject to due diligence. The application for reinstatement of the deadline must be submitted within 2 months of the deadline for submission of applications.
Proceedings before the Unified Patent Court
The procedure is divided into three stages: written, supplementary and oral.
In the written part, each party may refer twice to each of the issues discussed during the proceedings. The whole thing lasts up to 8-9 months.
In supplementary proceedings, the Court establishes a list of witnesses and evidence to be conducted and considers the possibility of concluding a settlement. The court may additionally oblige the parties to submit additional explanations, a summary of the position or to send the indicated documents. It is also a preparatory period for the trial and lasts up to 3 months.
Oral proceedings are hearings where witnesses are questioned, evidence is collected and the parties’ positions are summarized. The judgment is issued up to 6 weeks after the hearing.
Upon receipt of the decision to grant patent protection and after registration of the European patent with unitary effect, the holders pay annual patent application/protection fees. The costs of maintaining a patent with unitary effect for 20 years are presented on the EPO website.
In the case of protection in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands (in the current system), it is more profitable to choose a unitary patent. The exact simulation is available at – https://aipex-ip.com/upccostcalculator/
We have also created a breakdown of the unit costs of patents and validation by country – available here.
What can we do for you?
AOMB Polska provides services related to the registration of a European patent on a unitary product. In the case of legal patents that have been validated, we help with opt-out applications. The Law Firm may also represent the client before the Unified Patent Court.
Authorized by AOMB Polska to represent clients before the Unified Patent Court are patent attorneys Oskar Gińko, Damian Krężel, Jan Dobrzański and Jakub Sielewiesiuk.