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ARTICLE · 06 DECEMBER 2023

Unitary Patents: The First Six Months In Data

Marks & Clerk
Marks & Clerk
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Marks & Clerk

Marks & Clerk

Marks & Clerk LLP was founded in 1887 by George Croydon Marks, who was joined in partnership by...

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The UPC Agreement (UPCA) came into force on 1 June 2023, paving the way for the European patent with unitary effect (UP). Patentees are now able, within one month of grant of their "classical"...

GlobalIntellectual Property

It has now been 6 months since the introduction of the Unitary Patent (UP) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) – so how many UPs have been requested? And who is requesting them?

The UPC Agreement (UPCA) came into force on 1 June 2023, paving the way for the European patent with unitary effect (UP). Patentees are now able, within one month of grant of their "classical" European patent (EP), to request unitary effect. The resultant UP acts as a single patent with territorial scope extending to the 17 EU states that have currently ratified the Agreement. This is a significant departure from the classical EP, whereby patentees have to individually validate their granted EP into their European Patent Convention (EPC) contracting states of choice, resulting in a bundle of individual national patents. It is important to note that while non-EU states such as the United Kingdom or Switzerland are unable to be party to the Agreement, this does not stop such applicants from

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