Unified Patent Court

The introduction of the Unitary Patent (UP) and Unified Patent Court (UPC) is one of the most significant IP developments in Europe for decades. These two new pillars of patent law and practice came into effect on 1 June 2023.

At CMS, we boast a team of qualified attorneys in the UK who can represent clients before the court. Leveraging the collective experience and support of our litigators across Europe, including the UK, we can navigate the evolving landscape of the UPC and provide comprehensive patent strategy tailored to our clients' needs. The distinctive cooperation between our market leading European patent attorneys, with significant EPO opposition experience, and national litigators from across Europe, with experience of the national courts where the UPC will have regional or central divisions, allows CMS to provide both ‘litigation ready’ patents and also litigation strategies bespoke to our clients.

Rather than viewing the UPC as a standalone system, we encourage our clients to consider its interplay with national patents and national litigation. Understanding how these elements can complement and strengthen a client's patent position is key. CMS can guide clients in utilising both the UPC and national systems as strategic litigation tools, ensuring a robust patent strategy. CMS is distinctive in being able to guide clients in this way through our significant patent attorney team, UK litigation team, and other patent litigators in all major European jurisdictions. By consultation with our team of experts who can apply years of experience at the EPO and in the national court systems, we can assist in clients evaluating the options for strategically using new system, or not.  

Further information can be found in the dedicated section from our CMS pan-European UPC Insight Group, which can be accessed via the link below.

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