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ARTICLE · 08 AUGUST 2025

To Opt Out Or Not To Opt Out?

Boult Wade Tennant LLP
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During the transitional period following the opening of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), proprietors of EP patent applications and granted traditional European Patents can choose to opt out of jurisdiction of the UPC.

United KingdomIntellectual Property
Frances Baxter
Frances Baxter
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During the transitional period following the opening of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), proprietors of EP patent applications and granted traditional European Patents can choose to opt out of jurisdiction of the UPC.

Although opting out has been a popular option, with over half a million opt-out requests filed in the first 18 months of the court1, the court has also been consistently busy since opening. With nearly five years of the initial transitional period remaining (at the time of writing) the question of whether to opt out or not remains key for EP patent proprietors and applicants.

For some proprietors, initial uncertainty about the UPC was a motivation to opt out. However we now have two years of case law and procedure from the UPC which has started to address some of those concerns.

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