Course: The Unitary Patent

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    Basic information about the Unitary Patent system – its economic impact and how it fits into the existing European patent framework – has been published in two digital brochures in four languages. Stakeholders are invited to use these as part of their own outreach and training activities, and to share them with their own communities. These will be periodically updated, so check back here to find the latest version. 

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    The Unitary Patent System - a game-changer for innovation in Europe, was a high-level conference attended by over 250 persons in Brussels on 17 November 2022, with over 1000 more following the livestream online. The event was hosted by Ministry of the Economy of Belgium, in partnership with the European Commission and the European Patent Office.

    • Opening Speeches 

      High‑level speakers will discuss the various avenues that the Unitary Patent system will open up for IP protection, as well as its potential to boost innovation across Europe.

      Presentation of the European patent system 


      Speaker: James Nurton 

      Opening addresses  


      Speaker: António Campinos, President of the European Patent Office 


      Speaker: Anna-Carin Svensson, Director-General for International Affairs at the Swedish Ministry of Justice 


      Speaker: Angelika Niebler, Member of the European Parliament  

      Views from present and former representatives of EU institutions  


      Speakers:
      Maive Rute, Deputy Director-General and Chief Standardisation Officer, DG GROW, EuropeanCommission
      Didier Seeuws, Director-General for General and Institutional Policy, Council of the EU
      Cecilia Wikström, former Member of the European Parliament and shadow rapporteur for the UPP regulations        

    • Panel discussions

      Through a series of panel discussions the conference will present insight into the Unitary Patent system from a number of perspectives and evaluate its advantages for entrepreneurs and innovating businesses.  

      Views of academics 


      Panel moderator:
      Giovanni Casucci, Partner at EY Studio Legale Tributario IP Department, advisory board member of EPLAW, the European Patent Lawyers Association       
      Speakers:
      Professor Bruno Van Pottelsberghe (Université libre de Bruxelles)             Professor Edouard Treppoz (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne university) 
      Professor Anselm Kamperman Sanders (Maastricht University) 

      Views of business associations


      Panel moderator:
      James Nurton       
      Speakers:
      Thierry Sueur, BusinessEurope       
      Véronique Willems, Secretary General of SMEunited 
      Ben Butters, Eurochambers 

      Views of innovative SMEs  


      Panel moderator:
      Gabriel Grésillon, Reporter at Les Echos       
      Speakers:
      Professor Nuno Correia, INEGI / Solaris Float       
      Ruben Bonet, President and CEO, Fractus 
      Arnaud Castaignet, Vice President, Public Relations & Government Affairs, Skeleton Technologies 
      Professor Karl Leo, European Inventor Award 2021 in the "Lifetime achievement" category 

      Views of professional representatives  


      Panel moderator:
      Joff Wild, Editor-at-large for IAM and WTR       
      Speakers:
      Klaus Haft, trial lawyer in intellectual property law, past-president and advisory board member of EPLAW, the European Patent Lawyers Association       
      Ina Schreiber, Patent Attorney at Plasseraud IP 
      Koen Bijvank, Advocaat and Patent Attorney at Brinkhof, Amsterdam  

      Views of judges  


      Panel moderator:
      Kevin Mooney, co-founder, past-president and advisory board member of EPLAW, the European Patent Lawyers Association       
      Speakers:
      Klaus Grabinski, President of the Court of Appeal of the UPC 
      Florence Butin, President of the Court of First Instance of the UPC 
      Rian Kalden, Presiding judge of the second panel of the Court of Appeal of the UPC 
      Emanuela Germano, Judge to the Court of Appeal of the UPC 
      Stefan Johansson, Judge to the Court of First Instance of the UPC, NordicBaltic Regional Division 

    • Conclusion

      Conclusions


      Speaker:
      Winfried Tilmann, Professor Emeritus at Heidelberg University, co-founder and advisory board member of EPLAW, the European Patent Lawyers Association

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    The Unitary Patent will supplement and strengthen the existing centralised European patent granting system and will make it possible to obtain uniform patent protection in up to 25 EU member states by submitting a single request to the EPO. It will offer users of the patent system a cost-effective option for patent protection and dispute settlement across Europe.  

    • UP / UPC Update with AIPLA

      In cooperation with the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), the EPO ran a webinar on 14 June 2023 with the latest updates on the newly started Unitary Patent system and the Unified Patent Court. This webinar covered the benefits, opportunities, and more practical considerations brought by the new European patent reform. The moderator was Ryan Pool (AIPLA), with Michael Fröhlich and Stefan Luginbuehl as experts from the EPO, and Dr. Peter Tochtermann who is a presiding judge at the UPC. 

       

    • In the video, you may jump to the topics you are interested in:

      Introduction 00:00:00
      Part I. The Unitary Patent Background and overview     00:02:32
      Practical considerations 00:16:00
      Strategic considerations 00:33:47
      Q&A  00:49:50
      Part II. The Unified Patent Court    
      		 Introduction 01:03:30
      The UPC in a nutshell 01:04:14
      Jurisdiction of the UPC 01:26:30
      Procedure at the UPC 01:33:38
      Q&A 02:03:40


      Download the presentations:

      The Unitary Patent, Michael Fröhlich and Stefan Luginbuehl, EPO 
      The Unified Patent Court (UPC), Dr Peter Tochtermann, UPC

    • The Unitary Patent package

      Watch here the recorded live session held on 05 April 2022 with Stefan Luginbuehl as speaker and download the presentation shown.



      Download presentation

    • The Unitary Patent: practical aspects for patent attorneys and paralegals

      In an online lecture on 13 May 2022, two experienced EPO lawyers focussed on practical aspects of Unitary Patents, addressing patent attorneys, paralegals and administrative staff.

      Find below the material of the online session.

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      An introduction to the new system File
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      Requesting unitary effect at the EPO File
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    Three experts with great knowledge of Europe’s new single court for patents have been interviewed by Stefan Luginbuehl (Head of Department European Legal Affairs, EPO, and Unitary Patent package expert). They explain the functioning of the Unified Patent Court which came into operation on 1 June 2023.

    • Introduction to the UPC; timeline for introduction; opt-outs 

      Speaker: Kevin Mooney (UK)
      Former Chair, drafting committee for UPC Rules of Procedure

    • UPC – structure, language and jurisdiction

      Speaker: Klaus Grabinski
      President of the Court of Appeal; UPC

    • Proceedings before the UPC

      Speaker: Pierre Véron (FR)
      Member, UPC Expert Panel Group and Drafting Committee Rules of Procedure

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    The EPO’s Patent Knowledge Team have prepared the “Patent Knowledge Nuggets”, a series of detailed short videos describing specific features and explaining tricks and tips for our online data tools, like the European Patent Register and Espacenet. Not all of these videos relate to the Unitary Patent, but for those which do, a link to the video is placed here.

    More videos will be produced once the Unitary Patent system begins.

    • European Patent Register – Searching for Unitary Patents and the results list (00:06:26)

      Learn how to search in the European Patent Register for patents for which unitary effect has been requested or registered, using either Advanced search or Smart search, and explore the search results list.

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    On 7 and 8 April 2022, the EPO held the first of two UPP IT workshops to inform users about the changes made to the existing IT infrastructure for the new UP system to make it easier for them in future to access and use the necessary tools and forms.

    Find below the material of the workshop.

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    On 08 and 09 June 2022 the EPO held the EPO Patent Data User Days aimed at patent data specialists. The first day looked at the impact of the Unitary Patent on EPO bulk data sets and services and focused on latest information on Unitary Patent implementation from both legal and IT perspectives.

    Find below the programme of the online event, as well as the material of the first day.

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    One of the main topics of Patent Knowledge Week 2022 was the upcoming Unitary Patent. A dedicated block in the conference programme introduced the framework of the Unitary Patent, highlighted its economic impact and gave insight into the newly founded Unified Patent Court. These presentations were complemented by an overview on the Unitary Patent in the various EPO patent information tools and services and a panel discussion addressing the opportunities and challenges for SMEs.

    • The Unitary Patent: Facilitating access to patent protection with reduced complexity 

      Speaker: Michael Fröhlich, EPO

    • The economic impact of the Unitary Patent

      Speaker: Yann Ménière, EPO

    • The Unified Patent Court

      Speaker: Pierre-Louis Blerot, Centre des technologies de l'information de l'État

    • The Unitary Patent in the EPO's products, data and tools

      Speakers: Yolanda Sánchez García, Vesna Vajsbaher, Nuria Nine, Sofie Leplae, all EPO

    • The Unitary Patent: opportunities and challenges for SMEs

      Moderator: Gerard Owens, EPO
      Panellists: 
      Stefan Luginbuehl, EPO
      Joachim Fiedler, FIDLOCK GmbH
      Véronique Willems, SMEunited
      Klaus Haft, Hoyng Rokh Monegier

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