Coming Soon: The European Patent With Unitary Effect

The European Patent with Unitary Effect ("Unitary Patent") already has a longstanding and ambiguous history, although its underlying legal framework has not yet come into force. But 2021 brought a considerable push towards implementation of the Unitary Patent system.

What is the Unitary Patent?

The Unitary Patent is not the same as the European Patent, the latter being a well-established regime for obtaining patent protection in various European countries by filing one single application, including centralised examination, but resulting in independent national rights in designated countries. While the Unitary Patent will be based on a European Patent and will also be administered by the European Patent Office, contrary to European Patents designating single member states it will have a unitary effect in all member states of the Unitary Patent system (similar to the EU Trademark or to Registered Community Designs).