01/06/2023
It is finally here. Ten years after the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court was signed, and after a flurry of last minute opt-outs at the end of the sunrise period, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has now entered into force. From today, European patents with unitary effect can now be granted by the European Patent Office. Actions can also now be brought before the UPC – both for infringement and revocation of unitary patents as well as European patents that have not been opted-out of the jurisdiction of the UPC.
The last few days of the sunrise period were no doubt a stressful time for patent practitioners across Europe as they battled with the UPC Case Management System (CMS) to opt-out their clients’ important rights prior to the possibility of any action being brough in respect of them at the UPC. Indeed, the latest statistics indicate that around 400,000 rights were opted out during the sunrise period, a massive eight times as many as the UPC had initially anticipated. This, no doubt, goes some way to explaining the troubles encountered when using the CMS in recent months.
While the number of rights that are no longer part of the UPC system may be higher than anticipated by the new Court, this still only represents a relatively small proportion of the number of rights that remain within the UPC system. The UPC will, therefore, clearly be an important new feature in the European patent landscape. This is especially so considering that the possibility to opt rights out of the jurisdiction of the UPC will only be available during a transition period of no more than 14 years. Given that European patents in participating states will, ultimately, be forced under the jurisdiction of the UPC, there is an incentive for parties to become familiar with it sooner rather than later.
At Reddie & Grose, our dedicated UPC team is on hand to provide advice and assistance with any UPC related matters. Our services include handling all aspects of revocation actions and supporting infringement actions before the UPC. As a completely new court system, the UPC will be heavily influenced by the case law and processes of the European patent office (EPO) so the knowledge and experience of our European patent attorneys will be central to any litigation before the UPC, whether acting as advocates, or technical experts in a wider litigation team.
Litigation before the UPC is intended to be fast and efficient, and so practitioners will have to be flexible, tailoring revocation and infringement actions to suit their clients’ budget and goals. Whilst litigation should never be entered into lightly, we have the resources, diversity and experience to offer litigation support that is agile enough to meet these challenges. We are looking forward to participating in the new Court and playing our part in shaping it on behalf of our clients.
Visit our UPC page here.
This article is for general information only. Its content is not a statement of the law on any subject and does not constitute advice. Please contact Reddie & Grose LLP for advice before taking any action in reliance on it.
