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ARTICLE · 17 SEPTEMBER 2026

EPO v UPC – Jurisdiction

Boult Wade Tennant LLP
Boult Wade Tennant LLP
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Since the Unified Patent Court opened on 1 June 2023, one of the more interesting legal questions which has been considered is the matter of jurisdictional competence. Following on from our comparison of the EPO and UPC’s approaches to inventive step (available here) and as the dust begins to settle on some of the early decisions, it is a good time to reflect on the early decisions of the UPC in relation to jurisdiction and to compare the UPC with the EPO in this regard.

GlobalIntellectual Property
Michael Newsome
Michael Newsome
Neil Thomson
Neil Thomson
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Since the Unified Patent Court opened on 1 June 2023, one of the more interesting legal questions which has been considered is the matter of jurisdictional competence. Following on from our comparison of the EPO and UPC’s approaches to inventive step (available here) and as the dust begins to settle on some of the early decisions, it is a good time to reflect on the early decisions of the UPC in relation to jurisdiction and to compare the UPC with the EPO in this regard.

Settled Ground – the EPO’s jurisdiction

The EPO has 40 member states, including non-EU member states, such as the UK, Iceland, Switzerland, Norway and Türkiye. A patent application at the EPO can, on grant, be validated as a national patent in any one of these 40 member states, as well as any extension or validation states for which the necessary fees were paid. It is also possible to obtain a Unitary Patent, which currently covers 18 EU countries, as explained further below.

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