Introduction
1. UP and UPC: Intro and Differences
Unitary Patent
Unified Patent Court jurisdiction
UPC - Where is it?
UPC - Opt-out
Costs
2. Coverage
3. UP in PatentSight data + filter + Analytics function
3.1 Data
3.2 Filters, Groupings and Measures
3.3 Indicators
3.4 Annuity Fees
3.5 Legal Status
3.5.1 Unitary Patents
3.5.2 UPC Effect
3.5.3 How to find Unitary Patents in PatentSight
Introduction
Unitary Patents (UP) are obtained by filing a European patent application ("EP") and selecting the Unitary Patent option once the application is granted. Applicants have one month from the grant of the EP application to select the UP option. Coverage for the remaining European Patent Convention member states, including UP members which have not yet ratified the UP legislation at the time of grant, is still available via the traditional European patent route.
1. UP and UPC: Intro and Differences
Unitary Patent
A European patent with unitary effect is treated as a single legal right, therefore it will not be possible to elect the Unitary Patent and later to drop some of the countries under the UP. A single annual renewal fee is payable for the UP. The UP can only be assigned as a single article of property, although it will be possible to grant licenses for only part of the territory covered by the UP. Revocation of the UP results in loss of the right for the whole UP territory.
Unified Patent Court jurisdiction
The UP is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the new Unified Patent Court. The Unified Patent Court is a new court for patent matters in Europe. It has exclusive jurisdiction for Unitary Patents and also has jurisdiction for traditional "bundle" European patents which cover a UPC member state, in certain circumstances.
UPC - Where is it?
The UPC is split into Local/Regional and Central Divisions. Local and Regional divisions are based throughout Europe. The Central Division is based in Paris and Munich with a third location to be appointed in due course. The Appeal Court is based in Luxembourg.
UPC - Opt-out
For an initial period of seven years, it is possible to opt traditional "bundle" European patents out of the jurisdiction of the UPC. This may be an existing portfolio or future granted patents. This does not apply to Unitary Patents, for which the UPC is the sole venue.
Costs
The cost of processing the European patent application to grant will remain unchanged. There is no official registration fee for electing the Unitary Patent. After grant of the UP, renewal fees will be payable. The fees have been set to be annually equivalent to the cost of renewing a patent in four of the larger EP countries.
2. Coverage
Not all EP member states are part of the Unitary Patent system. Some countries will not be part of the system (for example the UK, Spain, and Switzerland), others could potentially join later. The current list of countries that have ratified the Unitary Patent System are:
Current UP member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden.
EP Member State |
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Current UPC member states |
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Future UPC member state |
3. UP in PatentSight data + filter + Analytics function
3.1 Data
The UP and UPC data will be available shortly after the official start of the Unitary Patent system:
- Opt-outs will start to be displayed end of June
- Legal Events will start to be displayed end of June
- C0 kind code (Unitary Patent Effect) starting end of July
Note: The EPO will deliver the data in batches, so it might be incomplete for several weeks in the beginning.
3.2 Filters, Groupings and Measures
- Unitary Patent Effect Status and Unitary Patent Events
- Unified Patent Court Status and Unified Patent Court Events
- Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court Events during a selected time interval
3.3 Indicators:
There will be no changes to the logic of how the Market Coverage is being calculated. The pending EP application, as it is not affected by the Unitary Patent System, will keep its current evaluation. The Unitary Patent will have the Market Coverage of granted patents in all UP member states. Additional EP member states, which are not part of the Unitary Patent system, will count towards the Market Coverage as well, in case the EP is validated in these countries. There will be no retrospective changes, as the UPC effect of existing, validated EP applications does not lead to more markets being protected.
3.4 Annuity Fees
The fee schedule from the EPO is expanded to account for the UP. PatentSight will use the traditional EP patent fees for years before the UP registration date (if any), and the UP patent fees for reporting years after the UP registration date (if any).
3.5 Legal Status
3.5.1 Unitary Patents
Unitary Patent effect is being treated as a Legal Event, which will lead to the EP grant being protected (active and in force) in all Unitary Patent Member states.
3.5.2 UPC Effect
For existing EP grants with UPC effect, the country protection is not extended. However, these EP patents with UPC effect can be analyzed by searching for the respective legal event.
3.5.3 How to find Unitary Patents in PatentSight
The filter offers the possibility to select "UP Status", which will help to narrow down the search results to families with a Unitary Patent or Unitary Patent effect. This will filter for families for which the following elements apply to at least one member of the patent family. Note that one patent family may include more than one EP patent. Consequently, more than one UP status may apply to the same patent family.
| Filter | Description |
| Unitary Effect Requested | The status "Unitary Effect Requested" applies to patent families with at least one member for which unitary effect was requested by the applicant or patent owner and not yet withdrawn, rejected, registered, or revoked. |
| Unitary Effect Request Withdrawn | The status "Unitary Effect Withdrawn" applies to patent families with at least one member for which the request for unitary effect was withdrawn by the applicant or patent owner. |
| Unitary Effect Request Rejected | The status "Unitary Effect Rejected" applies to patent families with at least one member for which the request for unitary effect was rejected by the EPO. |
| Unitary Effect Registered | The status "Unitary Effect Registered" applies to patent families with at least one member for which unitary effect was registered by the EPO and not revoked by the UPC. |
| Unitary Effect Revoked | The status "Unitary Effect Revoked" applies to patent families with at least one member for which unitary effect was revoked by the UPC. |
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) status that applies to at least one member of the patent family. Unitary patents offer uniform protection in all countries that have ratified the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) at the time of registration and fall under the jurisdiction of the UPC. To obtain a unitary patent, the applicant or patent owner must file a request for unitary effect at the European Patent Office (EPO) within one month from the publication of their granted European patent in the European Patent Bulletin
| Filter | Description |
| Under UPC Jurisdiction | The status "Under UPC Jurisdiction" applies to patent families with at least one member which is under the jurisdiction of the UPC. |
| UPC Opt-Out Registered | The status "UPC Opt-Out Registered" applies to patent families with at least one member for which an opt-out from the jurisdiction of the UPC was requested by the applicant or patent owner. |
| UPC Opt-Out Withdrawn | The status "UPC Opt-Out Withdrawn" applies to patent families with at least one member for which an opt-out from the jurisdiction of the UPC was withdrawn by the applicant or patent owner. |
Please note: Search fields will be accessible from June 1st, however data from the official EPO data stream will not be available on this date.
Opt-out information is expected to be initially searchable as of end of June, however will be incomplete as the EPO will deliver in batches.
C0 kind codes and Unitary Effect Request (actual patents under Unitary Effect) most probably end of July depending on data being sent to us by the EPO.
Sources:
- EPO, Unitary Patent Guide - Obtaining, maintaining and managing Unitary Patent
- Withers & Rodgers, The Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court