XNUMX. XNUMX.Introduction

　On June 2023, 6, the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPC Agreement) entered into force, and the "European Unitary Patent System", which combines the European patent with unitary effect and the Unified Patent Court, was launched.When filing a European patent application, in addition to the traditional European patent, there are now more options for a European patent with unitary effect.
　In this article, I would like to provide an overview of this system and provide points to keep in mind when searching for European patents.

XNUMX.What is a European patent with unitary effect?

XNUMX Traditional European patents

　If a European patent application is filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) and a decision is made to grant the patent after examination by the EPO, within three months from the date of grant, the European Patent Convention (EPC) member state in which protection is sought If you go through the validation procedure for each patent, it will have the same effect as the domestic patent rights of each country.
　Renewal fees must be paid separately for each country.Patent rights can be waived on a country-by-country basis.

XNUMX European Unitary Patent (UP)

　The process up to the decision to grant a patent is the same as a conventional European patent, but if you apply for a patent with unitary effect to the EPO within one month from the date of patent grant, you will be one of the European Union (EU) member states that have ratified the UPC Agreement. It will have single effect in all countries whereCompared to traditional European patents that need to be validated in each country, the procedural and administrative effort is reduced.
　However, the following countries are not covered, so if you wish to seek protection in these countries, you will need to go through the respective validation procedures.

・Non-EU countries (UK, Switzerland, Norway, etc.)
・Countries that are members of the EU but do not participate in the UPC Agreement (Spain, Croatia (as of October 2023))
・Countries that have agreed to participate in the UPC Agreement but have not yet ratified it at the time of registration of a patent with unitary effect

　Renewal fees are payable to the EPO. If you seek protection in many countries that have ratified the UPC, you can save money compared to traditional European patents.Please note that patent rights cannot be waived by country, but must be waived all at once.

XNUMX.What is the Unified Patent Court?

XNUMX Previous European patent-related litigation

　Until now, lawsuits related to European patents generally had to be filed in each country where the patent was valid.Court decisions may differ depending on the country; for example, even if a patent is invalidated in France, that judgment may not be effective in other countries, but in Germany the patent may be deemed valid. did.

XNUMX Unified Patent Court (UPC)

　From now on, the Unified Patent Court will have jurisdiction over not only European patents with unitary effect, but also cases related to traditional European patents, and its decisions will be valid for all states that have ratified the UPC.
　Compared to the past, when it was necessary to file lawsuits in each country, the cost of litigation will be reduced.In addition, judgments no longer differ from country to country among countries that have ratified the UPC, and if the Unified Patent Court issues a judgment that recognizes infringement, infringement will be recognized in all countries that have ratified the UPC.On the other hand, there is also the risk that all patent rights that are valid in each country will be invalidated by a decision of the Unified Patent Court (central attack).
　As a way to avoid the above risks, for conventional European patents, during the transition period (14 years, extended to a maximum of XNUMX years) after the entry into force of the UPC Agreement, jurisdiction over litigation will be transferred to national courts instead of the Unified Patent Court. You can apply to opt out (opt out). (You cannot opt ​​out of the European patent with unitary effect.)

XNUMX.Points to keep in mind when searching for European patents

XNUMX Impact on conducting European patent searches

　TwoAs mentioned above, there is no difference in the decision to grant a patent between a conventional European patent and a European patent with unitary effect, and in both cases, the patent is granted on the patent grant date (type code: B1) will be issued.
　If a patent is applied for and registered for a European patent with unitary effect after the patent is granted, a new type code of "C0" will be assigned, but it seems that the gazette will not be published as C0 (See XNUMX).　
　At present, there does not seem to be any particular impact on conducting European patent searches, but if you are asked to investigate the status of each European patent after it has been granted, please refer to the European patent with unitary effect. You will also need to check whether the patent has been registered and whether conventional European patents have been opted out.

XNUMX Checking the registration status of the European patent with unitary effect

　Provided by EPOEuropean Patent RegisterWhen you search by entering the publication number of the European patent you want to search, if a European patent with unitary effect has been registered, "UP About this file," "UP Event history," and "UP All" are displayed as shown in Figure XNUMX. ``documents'' will be displayed, and you can click on each item to check the details (Figure XNUMX is the screen when you click ``UP About this file'').

　Also provided by EPOspacenetNow, enter the publication number of the European patent you want to search and search. If a European patent with unitary effect has been registered, the item "Unitary Patent" will be displayed as shown in Figure 0, and the item "Published as ” with C0 appended to it. (If you click on the number with C1, the patent itself will not be displayed, but the contents of BXNUMX will be displayed.) If you click on "Unitary Patent", you will be redirected to the same screen as in Figure XNUMX.

XNUMX Confirmation of opt-out

　Provided by UPCSearch for Opt-outsIf you enter the publication number of the European patent you want to search and search for it, if the conventional European patent (as mentioned above, you cannot opt ​​out of the European patent with unitary effect) is opted out, it will be displayed as shown in Figure XNUMX. "Case Type: OPT_OUT" is displayed.

　In addition, XNUMX OfEuropean Patent RegisterYou can also find it by searching.When you enter the gazette number and search, you will see an item "Opt-out from the exclusive competence of the Unified Patent Court" at the bottom of the screen as shown in Figure XNUMX, but on the right side there is an item "See the Register of the Unified Patent Court". By clicking on ``Unified Patent Court for opt-out data,'' you will be redirected to the same screen as in Figure XNUMX, where you can check whether you have been opted out.

XNUMX.in conclusion

　Above, we have provided an overview of the European Unitary Patent System and how to check the registration status of European patents with unitary effect and the conventional option of opting out of European patents using the EPO and UPC websites.Some commercial patent databases have additional features that allow you to search and output this information, so it would be a good idea to check the support status of your database.
　XNUMXAs I said, at this point, I don't think it will have a big impact on European patent searches, but this is a system that has just started, so I will keep an eye on future trends.

Research Division Fujita

【reference】
・Unitary Patent & Unified Patent Court
　https://www.epo.org/en/applying/european/unitary
・Legal texts＞Unitary Patent system
　https://www.epo.org/en/legal/up-upc
・European Patent Register
　https://register.epo.org/regviewer
・ Espacenet
　https://worldwide.espacenet.com/
・Search for Opt-outs
　https://www.unified-patent-court.org/en/registry/opt-out