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.
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.
The Unified Patent Court is a new European patent court. The UPC is the specialized court handling litigation on European patents and unitary patents (for a transition period until 2030 still together with national courts). With the advent of the UPC, litigation for all countries that have ratified the UPC Agreement (the UPC countries) is centralized in a single European court.
A decision of the UPC is binding on all UPC countries. The UPC has jurisdiction over all existing and future European patents in force in one or more UPC countries, except for European patents where the patent holder has filed a so-called opt out. Such excluded European patents remain under the jurisdiction of national courts alone.
The European Commission considers patents a vital element of the Internal Market to achieve growth through innovation and increase the international competitiveness of European business. It considered that the efficiency, affordability and legal certainty of the patent system should be enhanced. Thereto, a pan-European patent protection and dispute settlement was to be created, based on two pillars: a European Union patent (the unitary patent) and a unified jurisdiction for patent disputes (the UPC).