What You Need to Know About the Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is revolutionizing the way patents are enforced in Europe, and McDermott’s intellectual property team is here to help you navigate this dynamic landscape. Our Legal Lens on the Unified Patent...more
This article is based on a Feb. 2023 Womble Bond Dickinson webinar featuring WBD Partners James Love (UK) and Ryan Cagle, Fabio Marino and Karthika Perumal (U.S.). Patent owners soon will be entering a brave new world...more
After years of setbacks, the EU Unified Patent Court (UPC) will begin its work on June 1, 2023. Germany’s ratification of the UPC Agreement on Feb. 17, 2023, triggered a countdown under Article 89 of the UPC Agreement for the...more
Set to open on June 1, 2023, the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) will revolutionize patent enforcement across 17 participating European Union (EU) Member States. The UPC will have exclusive jurisdiction over the new European...more
The European (EP) patent landscape will shift in 2023 with the launch of the unitary patent system, consisting of unitary patents and a Unitary Patent Court. All current EP patent right holders now have a decision with regard...more
Should I stay or should I go? This is the question current owners of European patents and applicants for pending applications are asking as the European Patent with Unitary Effect (“Unitary Patent”) and Unified Patent Court...more
The Administrative Council of the new European Unified Patent Court stated that the target date for the EU Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court to come into effect will be on April 1, 2023. However, there is still a...more
The option to "opt-out" from the new UPC system gives patent owners the opportunity to declare, according to Art. 83(3) UPCA, that the UPC shall not have competence for litigations concerning a European patent. If an...more
A major change to the European patent system is expected in 2023. Currently, patent owners: 1) validate European patents in individual States, 2) pay renewal fees, and 3) enforce the patent independently in each individual...more
After decades of drafting and negotiating, the Unified Patent Court ("UPC") is finally set to go ahead. The year 2022 has been dynamic for this new European court: The regulations on the unitary patent entered into force...more
The new Unified Patent Court (UPC) has been established by virtue of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (the "UPCA"). The UPC will be a court of all participating EU Member States, which will have exclusive competence to...more
The introduction of the Unitary Patent and the corresponding Unified Patent Court (UPC) system is set to transform the patent litigation landscape in the European Union (EU). The potential impact on the business success of...more
Seven years after the Member States of the EU signed the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (“UPCA”), the Unitary Patent (“UP”) and the Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) are likely to commence during the second half of 2022. This...more
For further insights related to the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court click here. Proprietors of European Patents will have the opportunity to avoid jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court by filing so-called...more
Final preparations by sixteen EU member states for their Unified Patent Court (UPC) and Unitary Patent (UP) began on 19 January 2022, following Austria’s deposit on the previous day of its ratification of the Protocol on...more
US patents have some extraterritorial effect. A party can be liable for patent infringement if it supplies components of a patented invention to a foreign country to be assembled there. In WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical...more
As has been widely reported in the recent weeks, the UK government is currently trying to progress negotiations on a withdrawal agreement and a framework for its future relationship with the EU. However, uncertainty remains...more
On Monday the UK government published a series of notices on the impact of a no-deal Brexit on intellectual property right-holders....more
On April 26, 2018, the United Kingdom ratified the Unified Patent Court Agreement ("UPCA"). This act removed any doubts concerning the United Kingdom's determination to participate in the agreement post-Brexit. However, the...more
With the approval on Tuesday by the House of Lords of the Unified Patents Court (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2017, the UK completed the final parliamentary step on the road to readying itself to ratify the Unified Patent...more
The UK government’s draft EU Withdrawal Bill (the “Brexit Bill“) aims to incorporate EU directives and regulations into UK domestic law in their current form immediately following Brexit (“Retained EU Law“). This article...more
Yesterday, the Preparatory Committee of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) announced that the previously stated target date for the entry into operation of the UPC, envisaged for December 2017, will now be delayed....more
The United Kingdom and the remaining European Union Member States ("EU-27") will negotiate the terms of the UK's withdrawal—and likely its future relationship with the EU—over the course of the next two years. European...more
In a fundamental change to how European patents are going to be litigated in Europe, the United Patent Court (UPC) will soon have exclusive jurisdiction over European patent disputes and will be able to issue remedies that...more
The Preparatory Committee charged with the implementation of the Unified Patent Court (“UPC”) announced on 16 January 2017 that it anticipates that the UPC agreement would come into force in December 2017, at which point it...more