IP review
spring
2017
It’s finally
happening!
After years of preparation, argument and anticipation, the
Unitary Patent Package (UPP), consisting of the Unitary
Patent (UP) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC), is almost
upon us. Administrative preparations for the UPC and the
UP are now well advanced, and the national ratifications
of the relevant legislation are being coordinated to ensure
that the UP and UPC can hit the ground running once the
required ratifications have been completed. Following
the announcement in November last year that the UK
will ratify, we expect the system to be up and running on
1 December 2017, so now is a good time for a recap on
what the system is, how it will work and what you as patent
holders or applicants should be thinking about now.
The main benefit of the UP is that it is a single
patent right covering all of the available UP
member states. The UPC will enable patent
holders to enforce their rights in all of these
states with a single legal action (which can be in
the language of the patent), meaning that it will
no longer be necessary to bring legal action in
each country separately.
4
