Start date
The new system (UP and UPC) started on 1. June 2023.
The Unitary Patent system is inextricably linked to the creation of the Unified Patent Court, which will have jurisdiction over Unitary Patents and "classic" European patents.
A Unitary Patent may be requested for any European patent granted on or after the date of entry into force of the UPC Agreement. For the state of play regarding ratification, please see the website of the Council of the EU.
Initially, Unitary Patents does not cover all participating Member States as some of them may not yet have ratified the UPC Agreement when it enters into force. Outstanding ratifications are likely to take place successively, so there may be different generations of Unitary Patents with different territorial coverage. The coverage of a given generation of Unitary Patents will stay the same for their entire lifetime, irrespective of any subsequent ratifications of the UPC Agreement after the date of registration of unitary effect. In other words, there will be no extension of the territorial coverage of Unitary Patents to other Member States which ratify the UPC Agreement after the registration of unitary effect by the EPO.