European Patent Attorney, Swiss Patent Attorney, European Patent Litigator
The biggest change to European patent law since 50 years was launched on 1 June 2023 with the entry into force of the Unified Patent Court Agreement. The new European patent system introduces a European Patent with unitary effect («Unitary patent») and a Unified Patent Court («UPC»), with the aim to facilitate and centralize the grant of patents and to establish a Europe-wide forum for patent infringement and revocation lawsuits.
With the Unitary patent, uniform patent protection can be obtained in the currently 17 participating EU Member states. Switzerland, as a non-EU country, is not a signatory state. Swiss companies may nontheless obtain a Unitary patent. In parallel, European patents can still be validated by the conventional routes.
The Unitary Patent Court will have exclusive jurisdiction for litigation relating to the new Unitary patents and the national parts of European patents from participating EU Member states. For a transitional period of 7 to maximum 14 years, national courts may have parallel jurisdiction over infringement and revocation lawsuits regarding European patents.
Several of our patent attorneys are qualified to represent clients before the UPC.
IPrime secures the first preliminary injunction before the Unified Patent Court
A mixed team of patent attorneys and attorneys-at-law from IPrime and a German patent law firm succeeded in obtaining the first ex parte preliminary injunction in the history of the Unified Patent Court. The injunction had effect in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Austria and Italy and was part of multijurisdinctional proceedings led by IPrime on behalf of a Swiss manufacturer of e-bikes
IPrime publishes an article series on the relevance of the Unified Patent Court for Swiss firms
An article series by IPrime published in the KMU-Magazin addresses the new unitary patent system and in particular its relevance for Swiss companies.
More details on our news section, available via this link