What is it?

The goal of the newly establish Unified Patent Court (UPC) is to facilitate the European patent filing process by offering the collective validation in 24 EU member states of the European Union which have signed the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA). Initially, the UPCA will be in force in the 17 states, which have ratified the UPCA. It will offer a cost-effective option for patent protection and dispute settlement across Europe with a single patent. This will ultimately reduce cost and the administrative burdens of validating within the individual European contracting states.  Although the traditional model of validating is still available, the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court will supplement the existing centralized European patent granting system.

How does it work?

If you wish to collectively validate a newly granted European patent in all participating states via the Unitary Patent, a corresponding declaration must be filed with the European Patent Office within one month after the date of grant. If you do not file a declaration, there is still the possibility of separately validating in all the countries within the time limits as offered by the Patent classic EP validation. For the Member States of the European Union that have not yet ratified with the Unified Patent Court at the date of grant everything stays the same.  The countries are Croatia, Poland and Spain and those countries which are not members of the European Union including the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey.  If you choose to obtain protection in one of those countries, the patent must be separately validated just like before.

EP Validation

Our unique one-stop shop model has enabled us to validate countless granted patents all over Europe.  Our streamlined EP validation service will allow us to seamlessly transition into the new Unitary Patent system.  With a single set of instructions, we would file a single patent under the Unified Patent Court in all 24 European Union Member States or validate individually in each European country.  Contact us today for a free EP Validation quote.

annuity payments

Now the payment of Annuities is easier than ever.  The annuities to be paid under the Unitary Patent for one particular year approximately correspond to the amount of the corresponding annuities for those four countries from which most of the European patent applications are filed, i.e. Germany, France, United Kingdom and The Netherlands.

• Cost-effective and transparent pricing

• Easy payment system

• Deadline notifications

• reminders

“Opt-Out” Declaration

 During a transition period of seven years after the UPC’s entry into force, the UPC’s competence for the classic EP Validation may be excluded. For this reason, it is necessary to file a so-called “opt out” declaration with the Unified Patent Court.  This declaration states that the patent(s) filed under the classic EP validation system is not to be subject to the UPC’s jurisdiction.

Why “Opt Out”?

Any third party may bring an action against all validated parts or against a specific validated country of your patent before the Unified Patent Court. What this means is that your patent could be nullified in all participating states at once by just one nullity action, namely by a nullity judgement issued by the UPC.

This risk can only be avoided by filing an “opt out” declaration with the EPO.

 “Opt Out” Sunrise Period

Holders of patents under the classic EP validation system can file the “opt out” declaration before the UPC goes into effect.  There will be a “sunrise period” starting approximately three months before the UPC goes into effect. Within this period, patent holders and the applicants of European patent applications can file the “opt out” declaration.

translations

Unitary Patent

It is required to file a translation of the full specification(claims, description and, if applicable, drawings) into a language which is not the language of proceedings before the European Patent Office. If the patent was granted in English, the applicant can choose the language of translation, provided that it is an official language of the European Union (not limited to UPC-participation states). If the patent was granted in German or French, the patent specification must be translated into English. 

Classic EP Validation

Translations for the classic EP validations route requires a unique understanding of not only the specific technology and subject matter of each patent, but the requirements of each local European patent office including which countries require claims translations or full specification translations.  Let Union Translations provide you with validaton-ready translations for all European countries with language requirements.