The Unified Patent Court (UPC)

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is a supranational court that currently consists of 18 EU member states. The remaining EU member states can join the agreement at any time. The court has jurisdiction over infringement actions, invalidity actions, actions for the issuance of interim measures, and actions for a declaration of non-infringement. The UPC has exclusive jurisdiction for European patents with unitary effect (unitary patents) and European patents (so-called bundled patents). However, for European patents, there is the option to opt out of the UPC’s jurisdiction until 2030 (estimated).

The Unified Patent Court offers two possibilities to challenge the validity of a patent: on the one hand, an action for a declaration of invalidity of the patent and, on the other hand, a counterclaim for a declaration of invalidity of the patent, which can be filed in response to the statement of claim in pending infringement proceedings.

Our firm has already taken on the first cases before the UPC and is familiar with the course of proceedings and the latest case law. We would be happy to assist you in your matter before the court at your request.