As of June 1, 2023, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) allows parties to litigate European patents in a single venue with effect in almost all EU countries.
The UPC is able to grant preliminary and final injunctions covering all the EU countries adhering to the UPC, as well as revoke European patents in all those countries.
The proceedings at the UPC are fast-paced, as one of the UPC’s goals is to deliver high-quality decisions within a timeframe that is compatible with business needs, including using modern technology e.g. for hearings, the exchange of briefs and evidence, etc.
Any party that owns or has an interest in a European patent, or has an interest against a European patent, can start an action at the UPC. Access to the UPC is not limited to European entities, and in fact in a large number of the actions started before the UPC at least one party is a non-European entity.
Our firm’s offices are located near two of the UPC’s central divisions (Munich and Milan). Many of our professionals are European patent litigators and European patent attorneys qualified to represent parties before the UPC. All of our professionals qualified to act before the UPC use English as a primary language for business, pleadings and client interactions on a daily basis.
Also thanks to our extensive experience in European and international litigation and oppositions and appeals at the EPO, we are able to assist our clients in matters before the UPC, from setting up a litigation plan to handling actions before the UPC first instance courts and the UPC court of appeal to coordinating and aligning litigation strategy across jurisdictions (e.g. UPC, US, etc.).
For more about our team of European patent litigators and European patent attorneys see our “Our team” section.
For more on the UPC see here.
