The new Unified Patent System centres on the creation of the European Patent with Unitary Effect – or Unitary Patent. This new patent right exists alongside the previous patents (traditional European “bundle” patents on the one hand and national patent rights on the other hand). A Major advantage of the Unitary Patent: with a single application at the European Patent Office (EPO), the successful patent owner can obtain patent protection for its innovation in all participating EU Member States. Patent proprietors thus obtain not only territorially wide protection for their patent but also identical protection in all participating states. When it comes to patent enforcement, this can be pursued more simply and rapidly in front of the UPC with the court judgements being valid transnationally.

Hitherto in Europe, innovative companies could only enforce their inventions on a country-by-country basis. This was expensive, inefficient and sometimes even resulted in contradictory decisions from the national courts. With the new UPC, there is now a subject-specific single EU jurisdiction giving companies the option to enforce their patents before one central court in the European Union. A judgement handed down by the Unified Patent Court is valid in all participating EU Member States.

Acting as an International court for each participating member state, the UPC has jurisdiction over all unitary patents and European “bundle” patents. The UPC will render decisions on matters of infringement and on the validity and legal status of the respective patent in suit: all in a single proceedings. This means that costly and cumbersome parallel actions before multiple national courts are no longer necessary enhancing legal certainty for both Patentees and the public.

The UPC has numerous Local Divisions across the EU with four courts in Germany: Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Mannheim and Munich. The central division is split across Paris and Munich. In June 2024 a third location of the central division will be established in Milan. The UPC Court of Appeal is located in Luxembourg.