The arrival of the unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in June 2023 represented the biggest changes in European patent law in a generation. Now Romania has joined the party, becoming a UPC member state on 1 September 2024.
What are the unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court?
A unitary patent (UP) is a single patent which has effect in several countries which are members of the EPC (European Patent Convention) and the EU (European Union).
The Unified Patent Court is an international court for patent litigation, which in certain cases allows litigation that would normally have taken place in multiple European jurisdictions to be decided in a single forum.
Initially, 17 of the eligible countries joined, meaning that:
- Unitary patents would cover those 17 countries.
- Litigation in connection with those unitary patents would take place at the UPC.
- Litigation in connection with nationally validated patents in those countries could also take place at the UPC unless a patent had been opted out.
Those 17 countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden.
What is changing on 1 September 2024?
Granted European patents having a date of registration of unitary effect on or after 1 September 2024 will now cover 18 countries, as Romania is added to the list of UP countries. These patents may be referred to as "second generation" unitary patents.
Litigation of a European patent validated in Romania will also be possible at the UPC (subject to the patent not having been opted-out).
What is not changing?
The territorial coverage of a unitary patent stays the same for its entire lifetime. Therefore, the territorial scope of granted European patents having a date of registration of unitary effect before 1 September 2024 will not extend to cover Romania.
Future changes?
The legislation for unitary patents and the UPC has not yet taken effect in other eligible countries (i.e. Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland and Slovakia).
The date when the legislation comes into force in any these other eligible countries will be determined by the country's date of ratification.
We welcome queries from our Australian and New Zealand clients regarding the unitary patent and the UPC.
More information regarding the unitary patent and the UPC is available here:
- https://www.spruson.com/news/the-unitary-patent-and-the-unified-patent-court-all-systems-are-go/
- https://www.spruson.com/news/what-is-the-unitary-patent/
- https://www.spruson.com/news/what-is-the-unified-patent-court/
- https://www.spruson.com/news/the-unitary-patent-and-the-unified-patent-court-impact-on-patentees/
- https://www.spruson.com/news/the-unitary-patent-and-the-unified-patent-court-impact-on-patent-applicants/
- https://www.spruson.com/news/opting-out-of-the-unified-patent-court/
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