Unitary Patent Administration

• Key issues of the Unitary Patent and of the Unified Patent Court
• Opt-Out during the Sunrise Period
• Unitary Patent: EPO application and costs
• User insights into the UPC Case Management System
• Operation and administration of Unitary Patents
• Practical implementation in corporate departments and in law firms

Who should attend

Patent protection in up to 25 EU Member States with a single request to the EPO is possible with the new Unitary Patent (UP). The procedure for obtaining this the UP will start after the EP grant, but will not substitute the possibility of following the classical route of validations. UPs, but also classical EPs will be litigated before the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) with regards to infringement and nullity.

Thus patent prosecution will become more complex in the future. IP support staff will be required to master this new system throughout, as if it were a new jurisdiction, with new deadlines, require-ments and fees.

Moreover, the traditional distinction in practice between patent prosecution and litigation will be challenged. There will be mixed patent procedures after grant in which traditional patent prosecution will not be seen as stand-alone anymore, but sometimes integrated in a system in which hybrid formalities need to be resolved.

In this online seminar we will discuss the fundamental particularities of each system for a better understanding of the new procedures that the UP and the UPC bring. We will dive into these procedures and we will focus on the preparations needed before and also after the new systems come into force.

After the course, you will

• have a better understanding of what the UP system is;
• get acquainted with the different processes that need to be done (sunrise period, EPO transitional measures, opting out, request of UP);
• be aware of the complexity that the UP system brings to formalities;
• understand how to better prepare to be ready when the UP system starts.