A go-to guide to the Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent

December 2015

The Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) and the European patent with unitary effect (“Unitary Patent”) are expected to come into full force in 2017. A provisional period in which existing, granted European patents ("classical European patents") and applications may be opted-out from the UPC is expected to start as early as 2016. Furthermore, the Rules of Procedure that will govern the day-to-day running of proceedings in the UPC have been agreed. When they come into force, the UPC and Unitary Patent will introduce the most radical changes to patent litigation in Europe for 40 years.

With the UPC and Unitary Patent well on their way to becoming a reality, the Taylor Wessing UPC Group has published a useful, go-to guide covering all the key issues of the UPC and how it may affect your business. Each week we will publish a new chapter and at the end there will be a complete series, covering:

  • What is the impact of the new system?
  • How long do proceedings on the merits take and what are the steps?
  • How does opt-out work?
  • The costs of using the UPC and the Unitary Patent.
  • Potential advantages and disadvantages for your business.

Our first three chapters are out now and can be viewed now via our Unified Patent Court page.

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