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https://www.epo.org/en/node/transitional-arrangements-for-early-uptake

Supporting users in uptake of the Unitary Patent before 1 June 2023

Supporting users in uptake of the Unitary Patent before 1 June 2023

 

 

The Unitary Patent system was launched on 1 June 2023, the date the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC Agreement) entered into force and the two EU Regulations setting up the Unitary Patent[1] became applicable.[2] The secondary legal framework for the Unitary Patent also entered into force on that date, in particular the Rules relating to Unitary Patent Protection, which formally entrust the EPO with the administration of the Unitary Patent.[3]

With a view to supporting users in uptake of the Unitary Patent before 1 June 2023, the EPO decided to introduce two transitional measures applicable to European patent applications having reached the final phase of the grant procedure. These measures were available ahead of the entry into force of the Unitary Patent system, from 1 January to 31 May 2023.

The two transitional measures were interrelated but separate from a procedural perspective. They were available for European patent applications for which a communication under Rule 71(3) EPC had been dispatched, i.e. which had reached the final phase of the grant proceedings. Once the examining division decided that a European patent could be granted it informed the applicant of the text on the basis of which it intended to do so ("IGRA" - Intention to GRAnt). This text was communicated to the applicant by dispatching the communication under Rule 71(3) EPC. In this communication, the applicant was invited to pay the fee for grant and publishing and to file a translation of the claims in the two official languages of the EPO other than the language of the proceedings within a non-extendable period of four months. If the applicant paid the fee and filed the translations within this period, they were deemed to have approved the text intended for grant. 

Further information:

Decision of the President of the European Patent Office dated 11 November 2022 concerning the forthcoming introduction of the Unitary Patent and the possibility of requesting a delay in issuing the decision to grant a European patent in response to a communication under Rule 71(3) EPC.

Notice of the European Patent Office dated 11 November 2022 concerning the forthcoming introduction of the Unitary Patent and the possibility of requesting a delay in issuing the decision to grant a European patent in response to a communication under Rule 71(3) EPC.

Notice from the European Patent Office dated 11 November 2022 concerning the forthcoming introduction of the Unitary Patent and the possibility to file early requests for unitary effect.

 

[1] Regulations (EU) No 1257/2012 and (EU) No 1260/2012.

[2] Article 18(2) Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012 and Article 7(2) Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012.

[3] Decision of the Select Committee of the Administrative Council of 15 December 2015 adopting the Rules relating to Unitary Patent Protection (SC/D 1/15), Article 2.