Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre (PMAC)
Last updated: June 2026
The Unified Patent Court Agreement, to which 18 EU Member States are currently bound, also foresees a Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre to provide facilities for alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Not all patent disputes require adversarial litigation before public courts: parties might agree to pursue ADR instead. Mediation and arbitration enable disputes to be heard by selected impartial experts in confidential settings. The parties to mediation are assisted by the mediator in reaching a mutually acceptable solution. However, the parties to arbitration have arbitrator(s) appointed to render a decision, known as an “award”, on the dispute. Both these ADR methods can also be combined in a hybrid form.
With the establishment of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in June 2023, a major step was taken to reduce the cost and complexity of patent enforcement and litigation in Europe. The inauguration of the PMAC three years later enables the UPC to also offer a forum for ADR. Parties coming to litigate at the UPC may be guided by the judges to try to resolve their dispute, or a part thereof, at the PMAC. By complementing the UPC, the PMAC aims to make Europe’s patent system even more affordable, accessible and flexible for all users, especially smaller businesses and licensees.
The PMAC has its seats in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Lisbon, Portugal. It offers the following:
- Arbitration
- Mediation
- Hybrid Med-Arb procedure
- Expert determination, e.g. to provide neutral technical opinions that are complementary to other ADR methods or litigation
- Rules specific to disputes over FRAND licenses and standard essential patents (SEPs)
The PMAC also provides free of charge information sessions to help parties decide which ADR method is most suitable for their particular business case. Requests for ADR are filed electronically via the PMAC and then routed to suitable experts. The PMAC can provide ADR facilities for disputes over patents that fall within the jurisdiction of the UPC and related disputes.