Before a Unitary Patent can be registered by the EPO, the applicant must first obtain a European patent. A European patent application must therefore be filed and processed under the EPC in the same way as today.
Once a European patent has been granted, the proprietor must file a "request for unitary effect" at the EPO to obtain a Unitary Patent. The request must be filed no later than one month after the date of publication of the mention of the grant in the European Patent Bulletin.
To be eligible for registration as a Unitary Patent, the European patent must have been granted with the same set of claims in respect of all the 25 participating Member States.
