EP Unitary Patent (UP), Unified Patent Court (UPC) and OPT-OUT

 

  June 1, 2023, the European Unitary Patents (UP) and the Unified Patent Courts (UPC) were launched. In 2013, European countries already agreed to the integration of their intellectual property rights systems to support the free movement of technology within the region in order to create European unitary market. However, after 10 years of difficulties in integrating opinions from each country, the first step was finally taken to implement the UP/UPC system. The UP/UPC system is groundbreaking in that it allows patent registration and rights enforcement in 17 European countries at once. In other words, 17 countries are effectively considered one country.

(17 ratifying countries: Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria, Italy, Slovenia, Denmark, Latvia, Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Malta)

<Advantages and disadvantages of Unitary Patent>

('Comensation' means, if the European patent application and examination request are submitted in a language of an EPC contracting state other than English, French or German, small and medium-sized businesses, natural persons, non-profit organizations, universities and public research institutions residing in EU member states will be entitled to a compensation system of EUR500 compensation)

Unified Patent Court

  The Unified Patent Court will have comprehensive jurisdiction over all matters related to the legal relationship of European patents, including infringement and invalidation lawsuits as well as damages and license. Not only unitary patents, but also current EP patents are the subject of the Unified Patent Court. The effect of the Unified Patent Court's ruling on general EP patents extends to all member states in which the European patent is registered. In other words, the effect of the Unified Patent Court's ruling will be uniform in all regions where the EP patent in question is registered. Accordingly, if an invalidation suit for a general EP patent is filed in the Unified Patent Court and the Unified Patent Court declares invalidity, the patent becomes invalid in all countries where the patent is registered.

Consideration of OPT-OUT

  If an invalidation lawsuit is filed through the Unified Patent Court and the patent is invalidated, the entire patent in the designated country may become invalid, so it is necessary to consider opting out to prevent this. If a patent in one of the 17 UP/UPC ratifying countries becomes invalid, the entire family patent becomes invalid. To prevent this, OPT-OUT is needed. If you opt out, the family patent will remain valid as a separate patent in each country. In other words, since a family patent is not treated as a unitary patent, even if a patent in one country becomes invalid, it does not take effect in other countries.

  Meanwhile, for registered patents in effect in EU member states, if they do not opt out, the parallel jurisdiction of individual European courts and the UPC will be approved. Therefore, both patent litigation in individual country courts and the UPC are possible. Even if you opt out, you can OPT BACK-IN only once and return exclusive jurisdiction to the UPC.

< Types of EP patent rights according to implementation of Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court system >

 WIPS Global newly provide the information on Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court. Let’s take a look what features you can use to check the information.

wipsglobal.com> Field Search

  You can add the ‘Unified Patent Court’ search field in the settings of Field Search. When you add a search field, four check boxes are displayed: Unitary Patent, OPT-OUT, Delete after OPT-OUT and Withdrawal after OPT-OUT.

wipsglobal.com> Field Search

‘TIP’ guides users for detailed explanations for each type.

wipsglobal.com> Search Result Filter

  You can also check the ‘Unified Patent Court’ item in the Search Results Filter. Likewise four types of rights are displayed.

wipsglobal.com> View Details

  In the View Details, you can see the type of right of the EP patent, and in the case of Unitary Patent, more details of the patent is provided through the EPO link.

wipsglobal.com> View Details

  In ‘Legal Info.’ Tap of the View Details, you can check the relevant information of the EP patent. For Unitary Patent, EPO link is connected as well.

wipsglobal.com> Download center

  The ‘Unified Patent Court’ is available for download. Special Field of the Download page, you can select the Unified Patent Court field and download it as an Excel format.

  So far, we have learned about Unitary Patent, the Unified Patent Court, and OPT-OUT, and have looked at what has been provided from WIPS Global. This new service feature on the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court will be very useful in understanding the status of the applicant, the corresponding country and the importance of patent technology. We hope that the new service of the WIPS Global will help you get more accurate information of the EP patents.