The Parliament of the European Union, on December 11, 2012,
voted for creating a Unitary Patent System (UPS) with a unitary
effect in 25 European states.1 Spain and Italy have so
far opted out of the system but may choose to join at a later date.
The aim is to provide lower costs and more effective protection
through one single administrative step. The UPS has three pillars,
each pillar with separate legislation and procedures: the first
pillar creates an instrument to set up a unitary protection system;
the second pillar provides the language regime to deliver and
administer the unitary patent; and the third pillar focuses on
setting up a Unified Patent Court (UPC) with exclusive jurisdiction
concerning infringement and validity of the unitary patents.
The unitary patent will co-exist with national patents, as well as
the classical European patent with which it shares a common legal
basis and procedure for grant. The unitary patent differs only in
the post-grant phase and will be treated as a single patent no
longer requiring validation (including translations) in each
European state. Patents will be made available in English, French,
and German, a feature supporters of the UPS claim will reduce
current patenting costs up to 80% by avoiding the need for
additional translations into other languages. Under the UPS, the
European Patent Office (EPO) serves the vital role of examining and
administering the unitary patents, as it does for European patents,
the key difference being the geographic extent of the legal
protection that a patent affords, once it has been granted.
The UPC will consist of a Court of First Instance (CFI), a Court
of Appeal and a Registry. The CFI will be comprised of a Central
Division as well as local and regional divisions, with the Central
Division split between Paris, London, and Munich. London will have
jurisdiction over cases involving chemistry, metallurgy,
pharmaceutical, and life sciences and human necessities while the
Munich division will handle mechanical engineering, lighting,
heating, weapons, and blasting. The seat of the Central Division in
Paris, the location of the president's office and the
administration, will also handle cases relating to performing
operations, transportation, textiles and paper, fixed
constructions, physics, and electricity. The local and regional
divisions will have jurisdiction over certain infringement actions
(and if they so choose, counterclaims for revocation) where the
actual or threatened infringement takes place or where the
defendant or one of the defendants has its residence or principal
place of business. There will also be a single Court of Appeal
based in Luxembourg.
The UPS will come into force the later of the date of ratification
by thirteen European states including the UK, France, and Germany,
or January 1, 2014.
Footnotes
1 These states include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and United Kingdom.The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.