The UPC or ‘Unified patent court’ is an international court, being established according to the ‘Agreement on a Unified Patent Court’ by the participating European Union Member States. Once it becomes operational its primary goal is not only to deal with infringements upon and the validity of unitary patents, but also to with the existing European patents, pending patent applications, and ‘Supplementary Protection Certificates’. The UPC will comprise a court of first instance, an arbitration and mediation centre, and also a common registry. The court of first instance will have a central division in Paris, and then also thematic sections in Germany, Italy, and Sweden (Nordic-Baltic regional division). The court of appeal will be based in Luxembourg. There is an opportunity still remaining for the participating states either to set up a local division or to join together with one or more of the other participating states to form a regional division (up to this point a pan-Baltic-Nordic division has already existed, with its headquarters at Stockholm in Sweden).
As already mentioned, the ‘Unitary Patent Court’ will have jurisdiction both over unitary and European patents. However, during a transition period which covers seven years, patent owners will have an opportunity to ‘opt-out’ their European patents from the jurisdiction of the ‘Unified Patent Court’ to remain within the jurisdiction of a specific national court within each EU member state (just as is the case today). Despite this, any unitary patents cannot be ‘opted-out’ from the jurisdiction of the ‘Unitary Patent Court’.
The ‘Unitary Patent Court’ will make a huge impact on legal proceedings where these involve patents as we understand the process today. It will make the process of undertaking litigation much more cost-effective and rapid, as well as providing Europe-wide legal coverage.