A unified patent court agreement, signed on 19 February 2013, prepares the way for a unified court system to be created. The unified court framework would be used for resolving disputes relating to the validity and infringement of new unitary patents-patents which would enable businesses to protect their monopoly over their inventions across multiple EU member states by making a single application filing for a unitary patent at the European Patent Office (EPO).

Plans to establish a cheaper and more efficient way for inventors to gain patent protection have been mooted for years. At the moment, a patent registered at the EPO can acquire Europe-wide protection by being validated in each individual country. Moreover, to be valid in a country, the patent must be translated into its language.

Under the unitary patent scheme, a patent holder would make a single application to the EPO for patent protection across the EU countries that sign up to the scheme, with successful patents being initially published in English, French or German and eventually translated into all three languages. Applications for unitary patent protection not made in any of those languages would have to be translated in order to be considered, although applicants would be compensated for the cost of this.

All the above mentioned changes proposed under the agreement will prepare the way for a specialised European patent court – the Unified Patent Court – to enter into force once ratified, making it easier for companies and inventors to protect their patents. The court will have specialised jurisdiction in patent disputes, avoiding multiple litigation cases in up to 28 different national courts. The Court will be able to deliver judgments on the validity and the infringement of European and unified patents for all the Contracting States, avoiding parallel proceedings and divergent outcomes. 25 Member States are participating in this unified patent framework, which is open to all Member States, with Austria being the first EU country to ratify the February agreement.

Sources: Justice for growth: Commission fills legal gaps for unitary patent protection, europa.eu

Austria first country to ratify unified patent court agreement, outlaw.com