The European patent with unitary effect

The European patent with unitary effect (unitary patent or UP for short) will be another option for protecting technical inventions in many participating EU member states from 1 June 2023, complementing the European bundle patent (EP patent). Unitary patents make it possible to obtain patent protection in all EU member states participating in the new system by filing a single application with the EPO, making the procedure simpler and more cost-efficient for applicants. However, there will be changes from grant onwards, particularly with regard to validation, maintenance and jurisdiction.

Participating states

The European Union consists of 27 member states. Currently, 17 EU member states have committed themselves to participate in the unitary patent protec-tion from the beginning.

Sunrise Period

The Sunrise Period is a three-month period preceding the effective start of the system (1 June 2023), which offers the possibility to exclude EP applications or granted EP patents from the jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court by opting out before the start of operation. However, within a subsequent transitional period of seven years (which can be extended by a further seven years), patent proprietors will still have the possibility to exclude the jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court by opting out.

White Paper on the Unitary Patent (UP)

We have compiled further information and detailed answers to all important questions for you in the White Paper on the Unitary Patent (UP).

Fee Calculator for the Unitary Patent

As a service for clients and interested parties, Eisenführ Speiser has developed its own fee calculator for the Unitary Patent. With this calculator, the (estimated) costs of a unitary patent can be quickly and easily compared with those of various validations of a bundle patent. Thus, the fee calculator is a great help in estimating the costs of individual validation strategies and enables the profitability of a Unitary Patent to be assessed. In the latest version of the fee calculator, the estimated costs are displayed graphically over the years, so that individual strategies can now be compared even more easily.

You can quickly and easily download the current version of Eisenführ Speiser's fee calculator for the Unitary Patent in our download area.