Here, you will find insightful articles and analysis by our experts on the latest developments on Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent matters.
Our team of subject matter experts are dedicated to keeping you informed with timely and relevant information to help you navigate the complexities of the UPC and UP system effectively.
In addition, our UPC Insider blog brings you an insider’s view on news as it emerges from the Unified Patent Court.
15 May 2025
Don’t miss our next webinar from our UPC experts, taking place on Thursday 12 June at 13:30-14:30 GMT | 14:30-15:30 BST | 15:30-16:30 CEST, and the chance to gain a deeper understanding of the increasingly important role of the UPC in international litigation strategy.
1 May 2025
We explore a series of recent decisions covering the extent of UPC jurisdiction, and consider what these decisions mean for users of the court.
7 April 2025
Building on our first article, this time we focus on other key aspects of litigation in both jurisdictions, such as the appeal process, settlement, confidentiality, remedies, provisional and protective measures, and cost recoverability.
31 March 2025
In part one of this two-part comparative article series on UPC and US patent litigation, Paulina Kasprzak explores the differences between the two systems in the stages leading up to trial, focusing on infringement actions.
12 March 2025
This article looks at the position in the UK, Germany, where the doctrine of equivalents has been established over time by national case law and how the Unified Patents Court has dealt with this issue.
20 February 2025
The first annual report since the Unified Patent Court came into effect at the start of June 2023 has been published. The report provides key insights into the Court’s activities, cases and key developments within its first year. We explore the report in this article and look forward to what’s coming next.
10 February 2025
The Unified Patent Court has clarified that it has jurisdiction to determine claims for infringement in non-contracting states of the UPC, for instance the UK, in certain circumstances. In this article, Abbie Buckler explores the case in point and what it means for patent owners.
28 November 2024
In this short article, Sanjeet Plaha, IP litigation specialist and member of our UPC team, runs through all you need to know about security for costs.
20 November 2024
We explore the importance of being careful of what you say to the EPO during prosecution of your European patent applications.
14 November 2024
Discover how the recent UPC Court of Appeal ruling enables patentees to withdraw opt-outs for patents involved in pre-UPC litigation.
13 November 2024
In his second article in this series, Matthew Howell explores the importance of description and drawing to support the claim scope. It’s one of the areas you can focus on to improve your chances of success at the UPC.
6 November 2024
We explore how, in drafting and prosecution of your European patent, you can mitigate the risk of a successful invalidity attack.
28 October 2024
What are the top priorities for IP professionals when it comes to UPC litigation, procedures and requirements? We find out following our recent poll.
21 October 2024
According to our recent poll. a majority of IP professionals are confident in the UPC’s assessment of inventive step.
17 October 2024
Most IP professionals would favour the UPC adopting the EPO’s approach to added subject matter, according to our recent poll.
17 September 2024
In this edition we break down the hot topics from our recent ‘Unpacking the UPC: Expert insights and lessons learnt’ webinar, that took place on 11 September.
12 September 2024
Join our team of UPC experts as they share their insights on the Unified Patent Court and practical tips they’ve gleaned through their own first hand experience of the Court.
13 August 2024
In this article, we explain Unitary Patent validations, what’s required and by when, and outline practical steps you can take if you miss the deadline.
8 August 2024
Discover what bifurcation is, how it can arise and how this potential scenario might be handled at the UPC.
20 August 2024
In this edition our UPC experts examine the UPC’s first decided cases, its caseload and SEP and FRAND disputes to pull out key findings.
20 August 2024
Matthew Howell pulls out key learnings from five decided cases at the UPC, sharing his insight into the Court’s approach to claim construction, added subject matter, inventive step and novelty, and how it compares to the EPO’s.
20 August 2024
James Ward examines the caseload of the UPC since it opened its doors on 1 June 2023. He discusses which actions and measures are proving popular, or less so, and other aspects of the new system, drawing conclusions that will be useful to parties considering initiating their own proceedings.
17 July 2024
Our UPC experts do a deep dive into cases and recent decisions, and share their learnings on navigating jurisdictional issues, the origins of infringement actions, and tell you all you need to know about security for costs.
17 July 2024
In this article, James Ward examines three cases to pinpoint learnings that can inform your wider litigation at the UPC.
17 July 2024
Matthew Howell takes a look at where the claimants in UPC infringement actions are based, and the areas of technology they are protecting.
19 June 2024
In Issue 3 of UPC Unpacked, our UPC experts delve into preliminary injunction and UP applications over the last 12 months, and how to get your your EP fit for UPC litigation.
19 June 2024
A powerful tool for patentees, but what practical issues can impact their success?
19 June 2024
Adoption of both the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court has been strong. But what lies behind the numbers?
15 May 2024
Discover what to expect in a UPC litigation, how it differs from an EPO opposition proceeding, and guidance on Unitary Patent validations.
15 May 2024
Practical tips on how to prepare for actions before the UPC, and what you can expect once proceedings have started.
15 May 2024
A brief comparative guide to EPO opposition and UPC revocation proceedings, that outlines the key features of each procedure to give you a side-by-side comparison.
17 April 2024
Valuable insights from our EPC experts, who unpack learnings from what’s been happening at the Unified Patent Court.
17 April 2024
Joseph Lenthall explores the first decision from the UPC’s Court of Appeal overturning a preliminary injunction, and the implications for future patent validity assessments in Europe.
17 April 2024
Why is it of critical importance to get your opts outs right at the UPC? Some early decisions from the UPC are cautionary tales.
22 December 2023
For many, 2023 was the year of the Unified Patent Court, but what do the first six months tell us? HLK’s Matthew Howell, UK and European patent attorney, has looked beyond the data to pull out six key insights.
Watch his 2-minute takeaway videos for key messages emerging from the Court’s first six months of activity.
11 December 2023
After its delayed start on 1 June 2023, the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has now been in operation for six months. We have delved into the statistics and early decisions of the UPC to see what we can learn from these first six months. While it is unwise to draw too many conclusions from a relatively small dataset, some clear messages are emerging.
5 October 2023
UPC decisions, and orders such as those discussed here, may be enforced across several countries. In cases relating to unitary patents, decisions and orders may be enforceable across all 17 contracting member states constituting the current territory covered by the UPC. In cases relating to traditional (non-unitary) European patents, decisions and orders may be enforceable in the contracting member states in which the validation has been performed (up to the full 17 contracting states). Various key aspects of the enforcement process are discussed below.
13 September 2023
The Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) includes provisions defining the acts which a third party can be prevented from performing in respect of a patent. These provisions cover both ‘direct’ infringement of the patent (Art. 25 UPCA: “Right to prevent the direct use of the invention”) and ‘indirect’ infringement (Art. 26 UPCA: “Right to prevent the indirect use of the invention”).
25 August 2023
Key points
15 August 2023
As part of the package of measures introduced to bring the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and Unitary Patent (UP) into effect, the European Patent Office (EPO) has been entrusted with a number of administrative tasks relating to Unitary Patents, including administering requests for UPs and ensuring that such requests are submitted in the correct language and within the correct time period.
26 July 2023
Key points
21 July 2023
Provisional, or protective, measures are court orders which may be granted for the benefit of a patentee against an alleged infringer prior to the commencement of an infringement action. Provisional measures may be used, for example, to preserve evidence or protect a patentee from harm prior to proceedings.
14 July 2023
A patentee may apply to the UPC for provisional measures against an alleged infringer before an infringement action has been brought or decided. The patentee may request an injunction, the seizure of allegedly infringing goods, and the freezing of the defendant’s bank accounts and assets. The patentee may request that the Court grants these measures without first hearing the defendant.
7 July 2023
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is an international court for handling disputes relating to European patents. At the time of writing, the UPC has locations in 15 different EU member states and serves 17 EU member states, which, between them, have 18 different official languages. Furthermore, European patents can be granted in either English, German or French.
16 June 2023
The UPC and Unitary Patent (UP) have now come into effect.
There are a number of important decisions that need to be made by patent holders in relation to their portfolios including, but not limited to (i) opt ins and outs (ii) ownership and registration (iii) applicable law to existing and future patent applications.
9 June 2023
Now that the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has opened its doors, prospective users of the Court (both patent proprietors and potential defendants) will be considering who should represent them in proceedings at the UPC.
2 June 2023
This update is intended to provide an overview of actions for infringement of a patent at the Unified Patent Court.
1 June 2023
On 1 June 2023, the day that the Unified Patent Court has come into effect, the Court also announced that English will now be a language of proceedings at the Local Divisions in France (Paris) and Germany (Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Mannheim, Munich). Parties are therefore now able to bring actions at these Local Divisions in English and to plead in English at trial.
26 May 2023
This update is intended to provide you with an overview of action for revocation at the Unified Patent Court.
22 May 2023
The UPC has confirmed the languages for the 1st instance Local and Regional Divisions. As expected, the Regional Division covering Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia has adopted English as its language of proceedings.
19 May 2023
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) will be made up of a Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal and the European Court of Justice, which is to be used for questions EU law only. As shown on the diagram below, the first instance court is made up of the central division, which will be based in Paris and Munich (and Milan in the future too), and various local and regional divisions.
17 May 2023
Earlier today, the UPC issued a notice (see here) indicating that the UPC Case Management System (CMS) and opt out APIs will be unavailable from 9AM CET on 31 May until 9AM CET on 1 June. The notice suggests that no batch opt-out requests should be filed after 16:00 CET on 30 May. The period for filing opt out requests has therefore been effectively shortened by at least 15 hours, longer if the suggested deadline batch opt out requests is followed.
16 May 2023
In a long-awaited decision, the UPC has today (16 May 2023) announced that actions in the Central Division relating to patents in International Patent Classification (IPC) section A (Human Necessities) will be assigned to the Central Division in Paris, while actions in the Central Division relating to patents in IPC section C (Chemistry) will be handled by the Central Division in Munich.
11 May 2023
This update is intended to provide you with an overview of the litigation process, as envisaged, at the Unified Patent Court when it goes “live” on 1 June 2023.
31 March 2023
Today (31 March 2023) is the last day of the first month of the UPC sunrise period, so now is a good time to take stock of how things have been going at the UPC.
1 March 2023
The UPC Sunrise Period begins today, 1 March 2023, following Germany’s deposit of its instrument of ratification of the UPC Agreement on 17 February 2023.
The Sunrise Period will last for three months.
During this period, European patent holders and applicants can opt their European patents and European patent applications out of the exclusive jurisdiction of the UPC before the Court opens for business on 1 June 2023.
17 February 2023
Germany has today deposited its instrument of ratification of the UPC Agreement, triggering the start of the Sunrise Period for the Unified Patent Court (UPC).
The Sunrise Period will begin on 1 March 2023 and will last for three months.
7 December 2022
Following the announcement earlier this week that the expected start date of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has been pushed back to 1 June 2023, the European Patent Office (EPO) has confirmed that its transitional measures in relation to the Unitary Patent (UP) will be available from 1 January 2023 as originally planned.
5 December 2022
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) has just announced that the start of the sunrise period has been postponed for two months. The sunrise period is now expected to start on 1 March 2023, and the Unitary Patent and UPC are expected to come into effect on 1 June 2023.
This delay gives European patent applicants and proprietors some extra time to prepare for the new system.
20 October 2022
Preparations for the launch of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) have taken another step forward, with the announcement of the appointment of judges and the composition of its Presidium. A total of 87 judges have been appointed. They will take up their new role when the UPC Agreement comes into effect.
10 October 2022
A road map for the final stages of the preparations for the launch of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) has just been published.
The key date is 1 April 2023, when the UPC Agreement will enter into force and the Court will open for business. Unitary Patents (UPs) will also be available from this date.
It is expected that Germany will deposit its instrument of ratification in December 2022, and the sunrise period for opting European patents and patent applications out of the jurisdiction of the UPC in advance will begin on 1 January 2023.
30 August 2022
We considered the factors which may help you decide whether to opt out an individual patent in our earlier article. However, there is also a wider question of opt out strategy across your EP portfolio.
There are three basic strategies available:
23 August 2022
In anticipation of the Unitary Patent (UP) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC), European patent owners should be considering whether or not to opt out their existing and future European patents and applications from the jurisdiction of the UPC.
23 August 2022
With the launch of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the Unitary Patent (UP) fast approaching, there is a large amount of new terminology to get to grips with, which can be initially confusing. In this blog, we take a look at some of the common terms and phrases relating to the UPC and UP system and break down what they mean. Terms in italics are also defined in this Glossary.
17 July 2022
The UPC has moved one step closer following a meeting of the Administrative Council on 8 July.
The UPC’s Rules of Procedure and Table of Fees were adopted at the meeting and will come into effect on 1 September 2022. The final Rules of Procedure will be published in the coming weeks, before they come into effect.
24 March 2022
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) Administrative Committee has confirmed that many UK-based European patent attorneys will be able to represent parties at the UPC. With a team boasting experienced patent attorneys and litigators, HLK will therefore be ideally placed to represent parties in UPC litigation.
The Period of Provisional Application of the UPC Agreement has Started.
13 January 2022
After years of delay caused by legal challenges in Germany to ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (also known as the “UPC Agreement” or “UPCA”), the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the European Unitary Patent (UP) is set to come into effect in April 2023.
If you have any questions on the UPC and UP system, please contact upc@hlk-ip.com.