The Unitary Patent One single patent covering 25 EU members

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The Unitary PatentOne single patent covering 25
EU members
Rodolphe Bauer, Frédéric Dedek, Gareth Jenkins,
Cristina Margarido Patent Examiners, EPO
October 2013
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The European patent of today

• The European patent office examines and grants a
  European patents in a single application
  procedure in English, French or German.
• After grant, the European patent is then
  converted into national patents of the 38 members
  states of the European patent conventions.
• Requires translations
• Litigation in many countries

validation
European patent
National patents
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Unified Patent Court Main features (IV)
The European Patent System

• Since 1977, successful centralised European
  patent granting procedure at the European Patent
  Office
• Shortcomings in the post-grant phase
• From the Community patent to the unitary patent
• The European Union's patent package
• 1. Unitary patent (protection)
• 2. Unified Patent Court

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The European Union and the Unitary patent a
historical perspective
The European Union and the Unitary patent a
historical perspective
Maastricht Treaty EU 1993
Treaty of Rome EEC 1957
Nobel Peace Price 2012
Brussels treaty European community 1967
Common Euro currency 1999
London agreement on translations 2008
First European Patent Application 1978
European Patent Convention 1973
First Unitary Patent 2015?
Commission proposal Council regulation 2000
Luxembourg Convention on the Community patent
1975
Agreement Community patents 1989
EU patent package agreement 2013
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The European
patent of today
gt600 million people38 member statesgt20 official
languages
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The Unitary patent - basic concepts

• A supranational patent
• A post-grant option for EPO patents with many
  benefits
• The Unitary patent does not need national
  validation in participating EU countries
• Automatic translations will be used for
  information.

Unitary effect
European patent
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How can you apply for a
Unitary patent?

• Same application procedure as for current EPO
  patents
• After grant, a request is made for unitary effect
  
• National validation only needed in
  non-participating countries
• No double protection by a unitary a classical
  patent

validation into National patents
unitary effect
European patent
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Why will the Unitary patent be
cheaper?

• Translation costs account for around 50 of the
  current costs. The use of automatic translations
  will provide an enormous saving of costs
• Centralized litigation will be provided by a
  unified patent court. Legal certainty can be
  achieved without multiple and costly national
  court proceedings
• The renewal fees will be centrally administered
  by the EPO

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World Nominal GDP (Billions of US )
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How to fight over patents after
grant
Procedures before the EPO relate to patentability
and can overlap in time and subject with those of
the Unified patent court
EPO application
Notice of Opposition lt9 month after grant
publication
EPO grantpublication
Unitary effect, lt1 month after grant
publication
Opposition procedure
Appeal procedure
Examination
Unified patent court First instance
Court of Appeal
Decides on infringements and revocations
Court of justice of the EU
Court proceedings can be initiated any
time during a patent's life time
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THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT

• 1. Court of First Instance
• Central Division
• Local Divisions
• Regional Divisions
• 2. Court of Appeal
• 3. Registry
• 4. Patent Mediation and Arbitration Center
• 5. Training Center for Judges

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THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT

• 1. Court of First Instance
• Central Division
• Local Divisions
• Regional Divisions
• 2. Court of Appeal
• 3. Registry
• 4. Patent Mediation and Arbitration Center
• 5. Training Center for Judges

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THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT
chemistry, pharma-ceuticals, biotechnology,
metallurgy, human necessities, including medical
devices
electronics, software, textiles, physics, etc.
mechanical engineering, lighting, heating,
weapons, blasting
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THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT

• 1. Court of First Instance
• Central Division
• Local Divisions
• Regional Divisions
• 2. Court of Appeal
• 3. Registry
• 4. Patent Mediation and Arbitration Center
• 5. Training Center for Judges

- 1 per 100 add. cases - max. 4 - case
counting?
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THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT

• 1. Court of First Instance
• Central Division
• Local Divisions
• Regional Divisions (2 or more MS)
• 2. Court of Appeal
• 3. Registry
• 4. Patent Mediation and Arbitration Center
• 5. Training Center for Judges

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THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT

• 1. Court of First Instance
• Central Division
• Local Divisions
• Regional Divisions
• 2. Court of Appeal
• 3. Registry
• 4. Patent Mediation and Arbitration Center
• 5. Training Center for Judges

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THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT

• 1. Court of First Instance
• Central Division
• Local Divisions
• Regional Divisions
• 2. Court of Appeal
• 3. Registry
• 4. Patent Mediation and Arbitration Center
• 5. Training Center for Judges

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THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT

• 1. Court of First Instance
• Central Division
• Local Divisions
• Regional Divisions
• 2. Court of Appeal
• 3. Registry
• 4. Patent Mediation and Arbitration Center
• 5. Training Center for Judges

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Unified Patent Court
First Instance
language of the EPO patent
national language
national language
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THE UNIFIED PATENT COURT

• Common court to the Contracting Member States
• competent for
• Unitary patents (European patents with unitary
  effect)
• European patents (not yet lapsed at the date of
  entry into force or granted after that date,
  including pending applications)
• Supplementary protection certificates (SPCs)

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ORGANIZATION OF THE UPC

• Language of Proceedings (Art. 49)
• Local and Regional Divisionslanguage of the host
  country
• Central Divisionlanguage of patent (50-75
  English, 20-40 German 5-10 French)
• Court of Appeallanguage of first instance
  proceedings upon request of the parties,
  language of patent

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Summary

• Present system
• High costs for patent proprietors
• post-grant translation costs
• national renewal fees
• Sub-optimal enforcement scheme
• multiple litigation
• diverging national decisions
• high costs
• legal uncertainty

• Unitary system
• European patents with unitary effect
• lower translation costs
• centralized handling of renewal fees
• Unified Patent Court
• centralized litigation
• legal certainty without influence of national
  laws

For more info http//www.epo.org/law-practice/uni
tary.html
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Need more information?

• www.epo.org
• info_at_epo.org
• Tel. [phone] - 4636