The Unitary Patent is to become a reality

The German government has deposited its instrument of ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) with the Council of the European Union. The step marks the successful completion of the necessary ratification procedures by the participating EU member states for the Unitary Patent Package to become effective for currently 17 states. The new system is now ready to enter into operation on 1 June 2023. More countries are expected to join in the future.

Iceland is not a member of the new system but will continue to participate in cooperation on European Patents handled by the European Patent Office (EPO) together with many other countries, inside and outside the European Union. That system will continue to be maintained, alongside the new system.

As of June 1, it will be possible to obtain a Unitary patent for inventions that will be valid in all 17 European Union countries participating in the cooperation. The main changes are that Unitary Patents will not have to be validated in each country individually, there is only one annual fee, and there will not be a need to prosecute them in several countries simultaneously with possibly different results. Up to 25 European Union countries have the option of participating in the cooperation in the near future.

Borghildur Erlingsdóttir, Director General of the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office, says that the Unitary Patent marks a historical event in European Intellectual Property protection, as patent protection will now be harmonized in all the countries of the European Union that participate in the cooperation.

"This is the most important reform that has taken place in Intellectual Property protection in Europe in fifty years, and it will be exciting to watch how it will develop. The countries of the European Union have long been striving to establish a single, uniform European patent, and the European Patent Convention, which turns fifty years old this year, was a milestone in that process. Now this is finally becoming a reality, and for Icelandic parties who intend to apply for a patent for their inventions in Europe, it can be assumed that the process will become both simpler and cheaper. It remains however to be seen what effect this will have on the confirmation of European Patents in Iceland."

More information on Unitary Patents may be obtained on the EPO website.