The patent system in Europe has undergone significant changes with the entry into force, on June 1, 2023, of the agreements creating the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the European Unitary Patent (UP) system.
Whereas the current European patent granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) splits up after grant into a bundle of national titles subject to different regimes of national laws and procedures, the European unitary patent now has identical effects throughout the territories of the EU Member States involved in these agreements.
In addition, the UPC is a new international jurisdiction competent to deal with disputes concerning all European patents, with or without unitary effect, in particular regarding invalidity and infringement. After a transitional period of 7 years, it will be exclusively competent for these disputes instead of the national courts before which the disputes of each national validation part of the European patent were brought. During the transitional period, the owner of a European patent without unitary effect can choose to opt out from the jurisdiction of the UPC.
To mark the entry into force of the UPC and to provide you with the best possible support in tackling the many challenges it brings, Gide and Regimbeau have established one of Europe’s most important patent litigation partnerships between specialist lawyers and patent attorneys. > Find out more
Defining your strategy and adapting to new regulations
Regimbeau’s European Patent Attorneys are all qualified to represent you directly before the Unified Patent Court (UPC). They will closely follow the caselaw and inform you about it. Furthermore, they are familiar with the UPC Rules of Procedure and will be able to advise you on each detail of this new judicial system.
Regimbeau has published a book devoted to what forms one of the major projects of these last decades in the patent field in Europe: the unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC). In the context of the entry into force of this new system on 1 June 2023, Regimbeau’s Patent Attorneys have examined the various legal rules that will govern the future unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court.
Sim’UP is a tool, accessible to all, for simulating scenarios and helping you make decisions regarding the validation of your European patents. This entirely free online tool – developed by Regimbeau – allows you to make your own budget simulations and compare the post-grant costs of your European patents, with or without unitary effect.
The proposed estimates include official fees and professional fees for the validation stage (including translation fees where applicable) and the annuities.
Regimbeau’s Strategic Intelligence department can help you to:
– Monitor your competitors: How will your competitors use the sunrise period? How will they then orient their portfolio? Thanks to an active watch, detect their strategy.
– Monitor patents by technical field: Will we see different ways of using this new system emerge, depending on the technical field?
– Monitor specific patents: You have detected one or more titles that interest you in particular. Watch for an opt-out filing during the sunrise period or during the transition period.
– Monitor your patent portfolio: Ensure that third parties are not filing an opt-out on your patents and react quickly if you identify an opt-out filed without your consent.
Our experts support you wherever you are
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