Post-Brexit Patent Litigation In Europe

Although Brexit means that the UK can no longer be part of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), which is only open to EU member states, Brexit may increase the attractiveness of the current national litigation route as an alternative to the UPC.

Following Brexit, the UK may become a more important patent litigation jurisdiction than it would have been as merely part of the federal UPC system. The UK's commercial significance means that companies will have to litigate in the UK as well as in the UPC. Brexit is also likely to increase English patent judges' willingness to grant pan-European declarations of non-infringement, paving the way for more complex and disruptive patent litigation strategies.