Unitary Patent
Until now, there has been no uniform patent protection in the European Union. For decades, the European Patent Convention (EPC) has offered the possibility of obtaining a European patent (EP patent) through the European Patent Office (EPO) in a centrally managed procedure.
However, the EP patent is not a uniform property right, but a so-called bundle patent: after it has been granted, it must be validated in the individual designated states of the EPC in accordance with national law. This leads to
- different requirements for translations and the appointment of representatives, - annual fees in each validation state, and
- considerable overall costs compared to a purely uniform property right.
Enforcement is also very costly: a bundle patent cannot be enforced uniformly throughout the EU. Infringements must be prosecuted before the national courts of each individual state.
With the introduction of the Unitary Patent, it is now possible to apply to the EPO for unitary effect after an EP patent has been granted.
The result is a European Unitary Patent that is uniformly valid in all participating EU member states. This eliminates:
- separate national validations,
- the multiple burden of different annual fees, and
- parallel national lawsuits to enforce the patent.
The Unitary Patent thus represents a significant simplification and cost reduction for patent holders, while at the same time enabling centralized enforcement.
Parallel to the Unitary Patent, the European Patent Court (Unified Patent Court, UPC) was created. This is a unified special court with jurisdiction over disputes relating to:
- European Unitary Patents and
- classic EP patents (unless jurisdiction is excluded by opt-out).
The EPC has central, regional, and local chambers as well as a court of appeal. Its decisions have direct effect in all participating member states. This ensures cross-border uniform case law in the European patent system for the first time.
For patent holders, this means:
- uniform lawsuits for patent infringement or invalidity are possible,
- conflicting judgments by national courts are avoided, and
- the enforcement of patent rights becomes more efficient and predictable.