Unitary Patents fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court and for this reason they can only be obtained once the Unified Patent Court Agreement has come into force. The purpose of this short video is to explain the mechanism that will allow Unitary Patent protection to become available for European patent applications that are likely to grant before the UPC opens its doors.
You may recall that the current roadmap is not the original roadmap. Initially the UPC was projected to open its doors on 1 April 2023, with the preceding sunrise period having been projected to start on 1 January 2023. Both of these dates have now been delayed by 2 months. In practice this means that, for those European patent applications for which a response to the communication under Rule 71(3) EPC falls due between 1 January 2023 and 1 June 2023, applicants can request a delay of grant until after the UPC opens its doors.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
