The Unitary Patent (UP) system is a planned future system for patent protection within (part of) the EU. Under the system, unitary effect can be requested for European patents which have been granted by the European Patent Office (EPO). A patent with unitary effect, or Unitary Patent, is intended to provide protection in up to 26 EU Member States and will not have to be validated in every single state. A Unified Patent Court (UPC) will have exclusive competence in respect of Unitary Patents (as well – after a transitional period – in respect of traditional European patents).
Since the UK announced it wants to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement despite the Brexit vote (last week the new IP minister of the UK, Jo Johnson, repeated the announcement of his predecessor Baroness Neville-Rolfe), preparations for the system have restarted in full, despite the fact that a British membership brings about uncertainty. Prof….
The Preparatory Committee for the Unified Patent Court (UPC) expects the court to become operational in December of this year, with the Provisional Application Phase (PAP) starting by the end of spring 2017, probably in May. This has been announced on the committee’s website. According to the announcement, ‘the start of the sunrise-period for the…
Will 2017 be the year that the Unitary Patent system sees the light of day? A year ago the general expectation was for the system to fully launch this spring, with a provisional period starting late 2016. After the Brexit vote considerable delays were expected, but an announcement by the UK government late November led…
Germany has resumed preparations for the ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement. A draft bill for the implementation of the UPCA was published on 9 December 2016 by Justice Minister Heiko Maas. Together with the UK, Germany is one of the two countries that still have to ratify the UPCA before the Unitary Patent system…
The UK signed the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities of the Unified Patent Court on 14 December 2016 in Brussels. It is an important step in the process that should lead to UK ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement. The UK still needs to pass national legislation, a so-called statutory instrument (SI), to enact…
Depending on the outcome of the UK Government’s appeal to the Supreme Court on the issue of whether Parliament has to be consulted about the decision to give notice under Article 50 to leave the EU, the procedure which must lead to ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement could be the first case since…
There is a lot of enthusiasm among German patent judges, in particular but not only the younger ones, for the Unitary Patent system and the Unified Patent Court, according to Dr. Klaus Grabinski, Judge of the Federal Court of Justice of Karlsruhe in Germany. In an interview with Kluwer IP Law he welcomed the news…
What will happen if the United Kingdom, after ratifying the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) and some years of membership of the Unified Patent (UP) system, leaves the European Union? Can it continue to be a member of the system? If it doesn’t, what will happen to Unitary Patents that up to the Brexit were…
The Preparatory Committee of the Unified Patent Court is delighted with the UK’s decision to ratify the UPC Agreement and will publish a revised roadmap for the start of the Unitary Patent system as soon as possible. Chairman Alexander Ramsay is a happy man, he told Kluwer IP Law. Monday’s announcement of Minister of State…
(UPDATED) Despite the Brexit vote and in a move which ends months of uncertainty about the future of the Unitary Patent system, the UK has announced it intends to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement. UK Minister of State for Intellectual Property, Baroness Neville Rolfe, made a statement on behalf of the UK government during…
