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13 FAQs About The EU Unified Patent Court Proposal
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The most significant change is the creation of a single patent court system for all participating EU states. Although there are transitional “opt-out” provisions for traditional European patents, eventually the UPC will handle all litigation in the participating states for the new unitary patents and traditional European patents, including those granted before the UPC agreement takes effect.
The unitary patent is a form of European patent, to be granted by the European Patent Office, which will co-exist with traditional national patents and European patents. When a patent application in the EPO is ready for grant, the applicant will be able to elect validation of European patents in various combinations of classical European patents and unitary patents. Post-grant translation requirements will be reduced for unitary patents. These regulations will take effect when the UPC agreement becomes effective, for the states in which that agreement is effective.
John Pegram, a principal in Fish’s New York office, compiled 13 essential FAQs for understanding the EU Unified Patent Court Proposal including general information about the package and the Unified Patent Court, itself.
The opinions expressed are those of the authors on the date noted above and do not necessarily reflect the views of Fish & Richardson P.C., any other of its lawyers, its clients, or any of its or their respective affiliates. This post is for general information purposes only and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed.