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The Unitary Patent System is on the way

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January 20, 2022
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We reported last year that the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court (UPC) were progressing. The main hurdle left to clear was sufficient countries ratifying the Protocol on the Provisional Application of the UPC Agreement to allow the provisional application to start. The Preparatory Committee has now announced that Austria has provided the necessary 13th ratification, and so the Protocol is now in force. This allows the institutions of the Court - the Administrative Committee, the Advisory Committee and the Budget Committee – to come into being, and implementing legislation, such as the Rules of Procedure and the regulations governing patent attorney representation at the Court, to be adopted. When preparations are sufficiently advanced, Germany will deposit its instrument of ratification of the UPC Agreement, and the Court will formally begin operations at the beginning of the fourth month after the date of that deposit.

There does remain a constitutional niggle to be addressed, namely whether the UK’s mandatory ratification of the Protocol can be replaced by that of Italy now that the UK has withdrawn from the Agreement, together with the related question of where the branch of the Central Division that the Agreement specifies should be in London, should now be located.

The European Patent Office has welcomed this development and has repeated the estimate that around 8 months will be needed before the Court can fully open for cases. In addition, the EPO has announced a pair of measures to allow early uptake of the system. Once Germany has deposited its instrument of ratification, applicants will be able to both request delay grant of their patents (after the Advance Notification of Grant under Rule 71(3) EPC has been issued), and to file requests for unitary effect during this period, which will take legal effect after grant of the patent and once the UPC Agreement has come into force.

Recent Case Reports

See all Case Reports

Invalidity of juicer patent upheld on appeal
03 November 2026
The Court of Appeal upheld the invalidity of Hurom’s juicer patent for lack of inventive step, while clarifying the admissibility requirements for patent amendments and the use of the unamended description when construing amended claims. It also confirmed the UPC’s jurisdiction over infringement in Poland despite Poland not being a UPCA Contracting Member State, but found that Hurom had failed to establish infringement under Polish law.
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Evidence preservation doesn’t stretch to interrogation
03 November 2026
The Court of Appeal confirmed that evidence-preservation orders may be granted ex parte where there is a demonstrable risk that evidence could be destroyed or become unavailable, and that such orders may extend to relevant commercial and promotional documents. However, Art. 60 UPCA does not permit a bailiff or expert to question the defendant’s personnel on substantive technical matters, which must instead be handled under the Court’s control.
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UPC Court of Appeal clarifies claim construction, the role of party experts, and provisional measures in direct-competition cases
03 November 2026
The CoA’s decision of 30 April 2025 in Insulet v EOFlow provides important guidance on claim construction, the role of party-appointed experts and the requirements for provisional injunctions.
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