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).
by Wouter Pors, Bird & Bird The Hague On 10 April 2017 the UPC Preparatory Committee published the ‘final’ version of the 18th draft of the Rules of Procedure, as adopted during the committee meeting of 15 March 2017. This is still a draft, since only the Administrative Committee can really adopt the Rules of…
The Preparatory Committee for the Unified Patent Court has published a new version of the draft Rules of Procedure. According to the Committee, the draft ‘is yet to come under scrutiny by the European Commission on the compatibility of the Rules of Procedure with Union law and will be subject to formal adoption by the…
The German Federal Council, the Bundesrat approved draft legislation to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement and to amend German patent law in its 31 March session. It means the German procedure to ratify the UPCA nears completion. The Parliament, the Bundestag, had already given its approval on 9 March 2017. In order to finalize…
‘The UK will ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) in March, most likely before the Brexit article 50 is triggered.’ It was only last month this scenario was described by the UPC Preparatory Committee during a conference in Amsterdam. By now, we know this has been overly optimistic, but is it a problem for the…
Spain will not join the Unitary Patent system. That became clear today during a session of the Spanish parliament. Earlier this month, the parliamentary committee for economics, industry and competitiveness had approved a motion of the socialist party PSOE, requesting the government to reconsider joining the system. Only the Popular Party, which runs the minority…
The Preparatory Committee of the Unified Patent Court is confident that enough UPC signatory states will have acceded to the Protocol on Provisional Application of the court, in order for this provisional period to start at the end of May 2017. This has been announced after the final meeting of the Preparatory Committee on 15…
Will the Unitary Patent project become operational on 1 December 2017? The UPC Preparatory Committee has warned this date ‘is conditional and provided with the clear disclaimer that there are a number of factors that will dictate whether it is achievable.’ But for supporters of the UP and UPC, developments are encouraging. Crucial ratification procedures…
The Spanish Parliament, the Congreso de los Diputados, surprisingly adopted a non-binding motion on 7 March 2017, requesting the government to join the Unitary Patent system. Spain has been the only EU member state to stay completely out of this new European patent system, that is expected to start functioning in December of this year…
The Spanish parliament will vote today on a non-binding motion of the socialist opposition party PSOE, which calls on the government to reconsider joining the Unitary Patent system. The motion was filed last month by MP Patricia Blanquer. According to Blanquer, Spain should no longer stay on the side-line now that the system is about…
Once the UPC opens its doors, expectedly on 1 December 2017, a whole new European patent system will start taking shape. An exciting challenge for the future judges of the court, who will have to bring into practice a set of brand new Rules of Procedure and find common ground despite their different backgrounds and…
