The European unitary patent is coming. European Patents should make it possible to obtain patent protection in the various European countries via a central procedure before the European Patent Office. This will make it possible to avoid parallel national Examination Proceedings in the various countries and significantly reduce costs.
European Patents make it possible to obtain patent protection in the various European countries via a centralized procedure before the European Patent Office. This makes it possible to avoid parallel national Examination Proceedings in the different countries, which significantly reduces costs. However, European Patents granted have so far had to be validated individually in each country in which they are to take effect and maintained by paying annual fees.
Voraussichtlich Ende des Jahres 2022/Anfang 2023 wird das Übereinkommen über ein europäisches Patent mit einheitlicher Wirkung (EPeW oder auch Einheitspatent) in Kraft treten. Dieses ermöglicht es, mit Stellung eines einzigen Antrags beim Europäischen Patentamt über ein sogenanntes “Einheitspatent” Patentschutz in derzeit 17 EU-Mitgliedstaaten gleichzeitig zu erhalten. Dies sind die folgenden Länder:
- Austria,
- Belgium,
- Bulgaria,
- Denmark,
- Estonia,
- Finland,
- France,
- Germany,
- Italy,
- Latvia,
- Lithuania,
- Luxembourg,
- Malta,
- the Netherlands,
- Portugal,
- Slovenia,
- Sweden.
The maintenance fees to be paid for a Unitary Patent are expected to be far lower than the fees for individually validated European Patents in each country. The Unitary Patent is therefore particularly interesting from a financial point of view if patent protection is required in a large number of European countries. Specifically, the Unitary Patent is typically worthwhile if a European Patents is to be validated in at least 4 of the EU countries participating in the Unitary Patent. However, it should be noted that Unitary Patents can only be maintained or dropped as a whole. In this respect, national validations are more flexible, as decisions on their continuation can be made annually in the individual countries.
The request to obtain a Unitary Patent must be filed with the EPO no later than one month after publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent in the European Patent Bulletin. The option to obtain a Unitary Patent is expected to be available from September/October 2022 by requesting deferment of the mention of grant before the Agreement enters into force.
The other countries (including Switzerland, the UK, Spain and Norway) that do not participate in the Agreement on a European patent with unitary effect must continue to be validated individually if necessary.
Unified Patent Court
Mit Inkrafttreten des EPGÜ nimmt auch ein einheitliches Patentgericht (EPG) der EU seine Arbeit auf, das sowohl für die neuen Einheitspatente als grundsätzlich auch für sämtliche bestehenden europäischen Patente und Anmeldungen in den oben genannten 17 EU-Mitgliedstaaten zuständig sein wird. Insbesondere Patentverletzungs- als auch Nichtigkeitsverfahren werden in diesen Ländern somit neu vom einheitlichen Patentgericht beurteilt.
This does offer certain advantages. Due to the centralized procedure, there is no need to conduct parallel proceedings in several countries, which tends to make the proceedings simpler and more cost-effective. The judgments of the UPC also apply to all 17 EU member states and can be enforced across borders, which is particularly interesting for patent owners in patent infringement actions. However, as the court is still being established, it is unclear whether the new court will be able to compete with the established national courts in the larger European countries in terms of the quality of its judgments and efficiency from the outset. This could be problematic for patent holders, as European Patents can be declared null and void by the UPC for all 17 participating EU member states in one fell swoop.
Sollen diese Risiken vermieden werden, können für europäische Patentanmeldungen bei der Erteilung wie bisher nationale Validierungen in den interessierenden Ländern vorgenommen werden. Für bestehende Anmeldungen und Patente gibt es zudem die Möglichkeit, durch einen “Opt-Out”-Antrag die Zuständigkeit des EPG für mindestens 7 Jahre auszuschliessen. Damit bleiben, wie bisher, ausschliesslich die nationalen Gerichte für die Klärung von Rechtstreitigkeiten zuständig.
As protection against attacks by third parties, an opt-out thus ensures that the Patents cannot be attacked centrally. As a rule, it is possible to reverse the opt-out decision before filing an infringement action and thus still benefit from the advantages of the centralized procedure in infringement proceedings before the UPC.
Overview of advantages/disadvantages
Advantages of the unitary patent/EPG
- Unitary patent is more cost-effective if patent protection is required in a large number of European countries.
- No parallel processes in several countries.
- If an action is brought from or against a Patents, a decision of the UPC applies to all participating states.
- Proceedings before the UPC tend to be simpler and less expensive than proceedings conducted in several individual states, as a central decision is made on infringement and/or invalidity, and court and lawyer’s fees are therefore only incurred once in each case.
Disadvantages of the unitary patent/EPG
- Unitary patents can only be maintained centrally and not maintained or dropped in individual states as required.
- The quality of the judgments and efficiency of the UPC are unknown, in contrast to well-known and proven national courts.
- Both existing European Patents and Unitary Patents can be declared invalid for all participating states at once, whereas decisions of individual national courts may differ.