The Unitary Patent system is based on Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012 (OJ EPO 2013, 111; OJ EU L 361, 31.12.2012, 1-8), which implements enhanced cooperation for Unitary Patent protection, and Council Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012 (OJ EPO 2013, 132; OJ EU L 361, 31.12.2012, 89-92), which provides for the translation arrangements. Currently, there are 25 EU Member States (all but Croatia and Spain) participating in the enhanced cooperation scheme. The EU Member States for which the EU regulations are applicable are referred to as "participating Member States" (see 1.5).
The SC was set up by the participating Member States to ensure the governance and supervision of the activities related to the tasks they entrusted to the EPO. The SC adopted the UPR (see 1.3.2) and RFeesUPP (see 1.3.3), which came into effect with the two regulations on 1 June 2023, upon the entry into force of the UPCA.