Applying for UP Pros Cons

A unitary patent is a ‘European patent with unitary effect’ which has been granted by the EPO under the rules and procedures of the EPC.

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UP ESTIMATOR

EU member states

Renewal fee to EPO

2023

System in force since

UPC

Single court

What are the pros and cons of creating the UP?

Pros

A UP is a single patent with a unitary effect for the territory of 18 participating EU member states. Without unification, it would stay like a bundle of national patents in the form of the ‘Classic European Patent.’

There are no validation procedures or costs.

There are no translation costs or any requirements after the transition period. There may be lower translation costs and requirements during the transition period.

You will have to pay the renewal fee for unitary patents to the EPO and not to each validated country. It will consist of only one fee, procedure, currency, and deadline. The unitary patent renewal fee will be the same as the official fees of four member states: DE, FR, GB, & NL.

A unitary patent may have a licence for all or some member states.

Cons

There may be situations when your UP faces limitation, transfer, revocation, or lapse. In these cases, they apply only in respect of all participating member states.

One will have to file a request for a UP within a short time – within one month of the grant’s publication date.

They also have to validate EPs for EPC countries that are not participating in the ‘UP System’, along with EPC-contracting countries which are not members of the EU. As the UK is not a part of the ‘UP System’, it will be even less attractive to patent proprietors.

For patent owners who are interested in validating their European patents in a small number of countries, the unitary patent will not be the right choice. It will not be possible to select countries in which a patent is allowed to lapse.

A unitary patent may be revoked under a single action for all participating states before the ‘Unified Patent Court’. It will not be possible to opt out of the UPC for unitary patents.

Each patent case is individual and different.

Don’t know which way – UP or EP – to choose? Contact us.

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