As of 1 June, the new European patent system is in force and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) finally opens its doors. This completes the preparations that had begun back in 1975 to create a truly European patent court.
From now on, patent owners can take action against infringers in efficient and fast proceedings before the new court to remove infringers from the market in 17 European countries at once. In addition, the option of registration as a Unitary Patent will become available for newly granted European patents offering protection in the 17 countries at significantly lower translation costs.
Patent attorney Frits Schut is pleased with these developments: “This moment was long awaited by many and expectations of the new Unitary Patent and the UPC Patent Court are therefore high. There is no easy way to predict how the system will develop and how it will catch on with users. However, we are convinced that the UPC offers new opportunities to our clients, and that much will be asked of us to make the pros and cons of the current system and the unitary patent understandable to clients.”
Read more about the European Patent Court and the unitary patent on our Dossier page.
