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News and commentary on IP issues

Romania to become 18th Unitary Patent state

Flag of Romania
Romania has ratified the Unitary Patent Court Agreement and deposited its ratification. It will become the 18th member state of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) on 01 September 2024, and Unitary Patents registered on or after this date will also include Romania.  As highlighted in our related article, this does not have retrospective effect...
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940 Hits

The Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent are coming

UPC
The long-awaited Unified Patent Court opens its doors on 1 June 2023 now that Germany has ratified the UPC Agreement. Alongside this, patents granted at the European Patent Office will be able to be registered for a single Unitary right covering certain EU member states (in addition to other states being individually registered separately in the co...
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2112 Hits

UK Patent Attorneys able to represent clients before the European Unified Patent Court

Representation
It has been confirmed that European patent attorneys having a relevant UK qualification will be able to represent clients directly before the Unified Patent Court. All of Williams Powell's patent attorneys have the relevant qualifications and will therefore be entered on the list of representatives. As previously reported, the new UPC system i...
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2471 Hits

A Unified Patent Court for Europe - Coming Soon?

UPC
Europe may soon have its Unified Patent Court and Williams Powell is ready to assist you. With attorneys qualified for the European Patent Litigation Certificate (which gives UPC rights of representation) and as a Patent Attorney Advocate & Litigator (which gives rights of representation in the UK Courts) we are well-placed not only to obtain I...
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3063 Hits

UK Withdraws from Unified Patent Court system - but likely with less impact than you would expect

On 20 July 2020, the UK Government announced its official withdrawal from the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement.  This is a disappointment but not unexpected.   Does this mark an end to over 40 years of efforts to produce a harmonised IP litigation process in Europe?  Of course not.  The UPC has, in recent year...
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3158 Hits

German Constitutional Court deals blow to Unified Patent Court

On Friday 20 March 2020 the German Federal Constitutional Court dealt a blow to the Unified Patent Court (UPC), issuing a decision to uphold a constitutional complaint lodged against the German ratification of the UPC agreement. The complainant (a German patent attorney), had argued that the ratification of the UPC agreement was contrary to the Ger...
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2992 Hits