The UPC is a new European court set
up to decide on the infringement and validity of Unitary Patents and "conventional"
European patents under the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC Agreement)
of 19 February 2013 (see OJ EPO 2013, 287).
Currently, national courts and
authorities decide on the infringement and validity of European patents. In
practice, this can lead to difficulties when a patent proprietor wishes to
enforce a European patent in several countries or when a third party seeks the
revocation of a European patent. Parallel litigation in different countries is
expensive and there is a risk of diverging decisions and a lack of legal
certainty. Forum shopping is often inevitable, as parties seek to take
advantage of differences between national courts and their procedures.
The UPC Agreement addresses these
shortcomings by creating a specialised patent court with exclusive jurisdiction
for litigation relating to Unitary Patents and European patents and harmonising
the scope and limitations of the rights conferred by a patent, and remedies
available beyond EU Directive 2004/48/EC (Enforcement Directive).
The UPC comprises
-
a Court of First
Instance
-
a Court of
Appeal
-
a Registry.
The Court of First Instance is composed of a
central division (with its seat in Paris and a section in Munich) and several
local and regional divisions. The Court of Appeal is located in
Luxembourg.
The UPC provides a better framework for all parties
involved in patent litigation in Europe. In particular, costs are lower as
parties do not need to engage in parallel patent litigation in different member
states. Diverging decisions from different national courts on
infringement and validity of the same patent will gradually disappear as the
UPC develops a European case law, thus enhancing legal certainty for all users.
Over time, a more efficient and balanced patent litigation system will emerge,
to the benefit of both patent proprietors and third parties, namely:
-
for patent
proprietors, the UPC will offer better enforcement of valid patents, with decisions
taking effect in all Member States having ratified the UPC Agreement as well as
injunctions and damages;
-
for third parties
and the public, the UPC provides a central revocation action, separate from the
EPO's opposition procedure, at any time during the life of the patent.
The UPC Agreement (OJ EPO 2013, 287) was signed on 19 February 2013 by the EU Member States (except
Croatia, Poland and Spain). It was ratified by 17 Member States, including the
three states in which the highest number of European patents had effect in
2012, i.e. Germany, France and Italy, and entered into force on 1 June 2023. Additional
Member States are expected to ratify the UPC Agreement in the coming years. For
the state of play regarding ratification, please see the website of the Council of the EU.
For more information, please see
