- all European patents with unitary effect
- all supplementary protection certificates
- all European patents which have not yet lapsed on the date on which the UPCA enters into force or which are granted after that date
- all European patent applications pending on the date on which the UPCA enters into force or filed after that date.
The UPC will not have jurisdiction for national patents and patents in non-EU member states.
The most important thing to bear in mind is that for you as a patent holder, the UPC will not change much. Especially not in Germany: here, in Europe’s most important court location for patent infringement proceedings, the UPC will be represented four times. Above all, you will benefit from the simplification that the UPC brings. This includes first and foremost the territorial extension of your patents to up to 24 countries, a uniform language in several countries, and the chance to enforce your patents across borders.
If, however, you do not wish to make use of the possibilities offered by the UPC system, you may choose to opt out your traditional European patent.
The court of first instance has multiple local and regional divisions and a central division based in Paris. Germany – Europe’s most important court location for patent infringement proceedings – has the most local divisions: in Düsseldorf, Mannheim, Munich, and Hamburg. This makes Germany the country with by far the largest capacity for UPC proceedings. The UPC’s Court of Appeal has its seat in Luxembourg.
Actions may be brought and heard at all divisions. As a rule, infringement cases will be heard by the division where the action was brought. As before, this is possible before a division in whose jurisdiction the infringement occurred. If the defendant is based outside the EU, the central division in Paris has jurisdiction.
One special feature is that one and the same division can decide on both the infringement and the validity of a patent. As a rule, this is the competent local or regional division. In individual cases, however, infringement and validity may be decided in separate proceedings. It is also possible for the entire case to be referred to the central division in Paris, if the parties agree to such.
The principles already in force in Germany apply when it comes to the distribution of costs: court fees for proceedings before the UPC are usually paid by the claimant. Reimbursements, including attorney fees, are borne by the losing party.
At present, these are (as of September 2024) 18 EU countries. 6 further EU member states have signed the UPCA, so their ratification – i.e. confirmation binding under international law – is likely. The United Kingdom, which left the EU, has withdrawn its ratification. Spain, Poland, and Croatia are not participating in the unitary patent system for the time being.
