Unitary Patent

Currently, 18 EU Member States are participating: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Sweden.

Once fully implemented, the Unitary Patent could one day be in force in all EU Member States. However, countries outside the EU cannot participate. For countries that do not (yet) participate, you must continue to validate your European patent through the traditional route—even in combination with the Unitary Patent.

First, you apply for a European patent with the European Patent Office (EPO). After the European patent is granted, you must file the request for unitary effect within one month—this is free of charge.

The requirements:

• A European patent has been granted
• All countries participating in the Unitary Patent have been designated
• A translation of the patent specification is available: into English (if the language of the proceedings is German or French) or into another official EU language (if the language of the proceedings is English)

This translation requirement applies during a transitional period of twelve years and is expected to be discontinued after its expiration.

Instead of an annual fee for each country where patent protection is sought, the Unitary Patent requires only a single fee for all participating states. Over the first ten years, the cost amounts to approximately €7,400. This is roughly equivalent to the cost of a European patent validated in four countries—but offers protection in 18 states.

The more countries you wish to cover, the greater the savings compared to individual validations. You can find the current fee schedule on the EPO website.

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is a new European court that since 2023 has been responsible for disputes concerning Unitary Patents and, in principle, European patents as well.

• Infringement actions and counterclaims for invalidity are heard before local or regional chambers – for example, in Vienna, Stockholm, or Düsseldorf. The local chamber in Vienna is based at the Austrian Patent Office.
• Invalidity actions are referred – depending on the technical field – to the central chambers in Paris, Munich, or Milan.
• The Court of Appeal is based in Luxembourg.

Decisions of the UPC apply to all participating states. For traditional European patents, you can exclude the jurisdiction of the UPC by opting out (through a declaration).