Below you will find answers to the frequently asked questions. Is your question not listed? Feel free to contact one of our experts or submit your question via the contact form.
Frequently asked questions
Opting-out is removing a European patent from the jurisdiction of the UPC. It means that the current system whereby only national courts have jurisdiction is maintained and that the UPC has no competence to hear cases on the opted-out European patent. If you decide that legal disputes on infringement and validity of your European patent(s) should be heard by national courts instead of the UPC, you must submit an opt-out request for your current European patent(s). Opting-out a unitary patent is not possible.
The patent proprietor, the exclusive licensee (unless the licensing agreement provides otherwise and after giving prior notice to the patent proprietor), and the non-exclusive licensee (in so far as expressly permitted by the license agreement and after prior notice to the patent proprietor) are entitled to bring actions before the UPC.
In infringement cases relating to European or unitary patents, the UPC will apply the articles regarding direct infringement (article 25), indirect infringement (article 26), limitations of the effect of a patent (article 27), and exhaustion of rights (article 29) of the UPCA. It is expected that role of the Court of Appeal will be important to clearly define infringement tests for equivalence or indirect infringement to ensure harmonization between UPC member states.
A patent application or patent includes information about the applicant and inventor, the date of filing, status of the application, and the countries or regions in which the patent application has been filed and granted. Of course, the invention itself is also in the patent. Besides information about the subject matter and the invention, you can also read what falls under the scope of protection of the patent. The last aspect is determined by the claims in the patent.
On the ‘A detailed look at a patent’ page, you will find an example of a patent with an explanation.
Yes, patents provide the broadest protection on software because they protect a principle of operation or concept, for a maximum period of 20 years. A patent gives you the exclusive rights to exclude others from copying, using, importing, and selling a patented innovation. It is a powerful right that can only be obtained when an innovation can be regarded as contributing to technical progress. See 'Obtaining a patent on software'.
Your software and app source code may be protected under copyright law. However, this only provides a limited scope of protection, because only an identical or close copy will infringe. To apply for a patent, software inventions need to be regarded as a 'technical' invention. There may be aspects of the software applications that are critical for your inventive concept and can be identified as truly technical and can therefore be patented.
There are various forms of IP rights available to protect your software apps. Some rights are automatically obtained upon creation, other rights are obtained by simple registration or are filed and subjected to examination before a right is obtained. The most relevant types of protection and the important points of interest are: patent, copyright, database law, trademark, design right.