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Unified Patent Court

Unified Patent Court
FormationEstablished by treaty
TypeIntergovernmental organization, supranational court of several EU member states
Legal status
  • Established on 19 January 2022 (provisional application)[1]
  • 1 June 2023 (formal start)
HeadquartersParis (court of first instance, central division)
Luxembourg (court of appeal and registry)
Region served
18 EU member states
Official languages
Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Slovenian, Swedish
Presidium Chair
Klaus Grabinski
Administrative Committee Chair
Johannes Karcher
Registrar
Alexander Ramsay
WebsiteOfficial website

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is a common supranational[2] patent court of 18 member states of the European Union,[3] which opened on 1 June 2023. It hears cases regarding infringement and revocation proceedings of European patents (regular European patents unless they were opted out and unitary patents). A single court ruling is directly applicable in the member states that have ratified the UPC Agreement (UPCA).[4]

The UPCA is the legal basis for the court. It was signed as an intergovernmental treaty in February 2013 by 25 states, all then-EU member states except; Spain, Poland and Croatia. The UPC entered into force after meeting three predefined conditions on 1 June 2023.[5] Provisional application of the UPC Agreement was triggered on 19 January 2022 to enable preparation for the proper functioning of the court after entry into force.[6] While the United Kingdom originally ratified the agreement, it withdrew from the UPC in 2020, following Brexit.[7]

The UPC comprises a Court of First Instance, a Court of Appeal in Luxembourg, an Arbitration and Mediation Center and a common Registry. The Court of First Instance consists of a central division in Paris (with thematic sections in Munich and, since 1 July 2024, Milan),[8] along with 13 local and one regional divisions.[9] Before the central division, the language of procedure is English, French or German, while English in combination with a local language is the language of procedure before the local division.

Since the entry into force of the UPCA, it is also possible to request unitary effect for a European patent, which then applies in all countries where the UPCA was in force upon grant of the European patent. Appeal against decisions of the European Patent Office (EPO) regarding the grant of unitary effect is also possible at the UPC.

  1. ^ "Austria closes the loop – the Protocol on Provisional Application of the UPC Agreement has entered into force | Unified Patent Court". www.unified-patent-court.org. 19 January 2022. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Unified Patent Court (UPC) | Epo.org". www.epo.org. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  3. ^ Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, Article 84(1): "This Agreement shall be open for signature by any Member State on 19 February 2013."; Article 84(4): "This Agreement shall be open to accession by any Member State."; and Article 2(b): "Member State" means a Member State of the European Union."
  4. ^ "Agreement on a Unified Patent Court". Official Journal of the European Union. 56 (C_175). Publications Office of the European Union: 2013/C175. 20 June 2013. doi:10.3000/1977091X.C_2013.175.eng. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference RAT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Austria closes the loop – the Protocol on Provisional Application of the UPC Agreement has entered into force | Unified Patent Court". www.unified-patent-court.org. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  7. ^ "UK Withdrawal from the UPCA | Unified Patent Court". www.unified-patent-court.org. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Decision of the Administrative Committee under Article 87 (2) UPCA amending the Agreement" (PDF). Administrative Committee of the Unified Patent Court. 26 June 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Set-up of local and regional divisions of the Court of First Instance of the Unified Patent Court" (PDF). Administrative Committee of the Unified Patent Court. 8 July 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.

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