European Parliament Agrees on Unified Patent and Unified Patent Court
On the 11th of December 2012 a historic milestone was reached in the path to a supranational patent system for Europe: The European Parliament adopted two draft regulations for the establishment of the unitary patent and Unified Patent Court.
With the exception of Italy and Spain, the remaining 25 European Union states have agreed on adapting the unitary patent and Unified Patent Court.
Timeline:
18th of February 2013: Expected signing of the agreement for the formation of the Unified Patent.
1st of January 2014: It is expected that the unified patent system (Patent Application Process and Unified Patent Court) will enter into force; or if the 13th member state only ratifies the agreement after the 1st of January 2014, then on the 1st day of the 4th month after ratification by the 13th state.
Unitary Patent:
The unitary patent will afford patent protection in 25 EU member states, after grant by the EPO. The Unitary application will be administered by the EPO under the provisions of rules and regulations of the EPO. Thus, the application and grant process is identical to that of the current European Patent (by the EPO).
The difference is that once granted, upon request by the applicant, the patent will be automatically valid in 25 member states.
Unitary patents will follow the language regime of the EPO, allowing for patent prosecution in English, French or German. The only translation required will be: if the application language is French or German, then the specification has to be translated into English; if the application language is English, then the specification has to be translated into the official language of any one of the 25 member states.
Details of procedures and fees will be released by the EPO in due time.
Unified Patent Court:
Currently, patent litigation in Europe has to be conducted on a national level.
It is thus apparent that obscurities surrounding patent litigation in Europe include high costs, the possibility of diverging judgments, and the need for legal certainty.
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) will ease these difficulties, by having exclusive jurisdiction over litigation involving European patents and unitary patents.
The UPC will consist of a Court of First Instance, an Appeals Court, and a Registry.
The Court of First Instance will have seats in Paris, London and Munich. The UPC’s Appeals Court will be seated in Luxembourg.
Conclusion:
The EPO expects to validate the first unitary patent in 2014!
The treatment of the unitary patent as a single patent in 25 European states, and its enforceability through the Unified Patent Court, brings European patent competitiveness in line with the US Patent System.
** this article will be supplemented by detailed information regarding the procedures and fee schedule of the unitary patent once it is available