Applications are now accepted for the European unitary patent system
There is now a pan-European coverage option for inventors’ intellectual property.
The new Unified Patent Court currently accepts applications from inventors for a single unitary patent that would be enforceable throughout the EU.
The EU regulations (No. 1257/2012 and No. 1260/2012) establishing the unitary patent system came into effect on January 20, 2013, but they will only be effective as of the date the UPC Agreement enters into force, which is the first day of the fourth month after the deposit of the 13th instrument of ratification or accession.
The 17 countries that have joined the UPC Agreement will first be covered by the early petitions for the unitary effect that the European Patent Office started accepting on January 1. The agreement has been approved by seven other nations, although they have not yet ratified it.
In June, the court and the patent system are scheduled to go into effect. After several years of delays brought on by legal issues in the participating EU member states, transitional activities finally got underway this month.
The unitary patent is intended to make obtaining intellectual property protection in participating countries easier and cheaper than applying to individual states.
Although the full launch of the court was last month delayed from March to June, the court said on 20 December that “all other major milestones” of its roadmap were unchanged.
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