First and successful attempt for Office Freylinger. For the first time, we decided to partner with Pilatre-de-Rozier, the organizer of Grand-Est Mondial Air Ballons 2023, the World’s largest hot air balloon meeting.
On Monday and Tuesday we hosted a reception with clients and colleagues in our lodge in Ballonville Patenaire.
All attendees were charmed by the mass ascent. A magical moment.
And some of us had their first flight in a hot air balloon.
L’entrée en vigueur du nouveau système du brevet européen est imminente. Il concerne toutes les entreprises. Venez découvrir les bases de ce nouveau système lors de notre événement :
Cette fois est la bonne ! La ratification allemande courant février a déclenché le compte à rebours pour l’ouverture des portes de la Juridiction unifiée du brevet : le 1er juin 2023.
Depuis le 1er janvier, les demandeurs de brevets européens ont la possibilité de présenter une requête anticipée en effet unitaire auprès de l’Office Européen des Brevets.
La sunrise period a débuté le 1er mars. Les propriétaires de brevets européens peuvent déposer une requête d’Opt-Out auprès du Greffe, afin de déroger à la compétence exclusive de la JUB.
Les décisions sont à prendre maintenant ! Qu’est-ce que le brevet unitaire ? Quelles implications et coûts ? Quel est le rôle de cette nouvelle juridiction supranationale spécialisée en brevets ? Quel est l’impact sur les brevets existants ? Quelles sont les dispositions transitoires ? Comment fonctionne l’opt-out ? Qui peut le déposer et quand ?
Ces différents aspects seront abordés lors de notre atelier par Philippe OCVIRK – European patent attorney.
Date : 23 mars 2023
Horaires. 8h30 : accueil ; 9h00-10h30 : présentation et questions
Lieu : The City by GINKGO 14-16 Avenue Pasteur L-2310 Luxembourg – Parking Glacis – Tram Limpertsberg/Theâtre
Inscription: office@freylinger.com
Lire les informations sur le brevet unitaire sur notre site :
The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced that the official fees charged for European patent applications will be increasing from 1 April 2023. More details of the fee increases can be found on the EPO website.
On average, the official fees will increase by about 5%.
In view of the EPO’s official fee increases, applicants may want to consider the timing for paying fees in relation to their applications to maximise any opportunities to pay lower official fees.
For example, it may be sensible to file a European regional phase application (based on an international (PCT) application) before 1 April 2023, so as to avoid the fee increase. Furthermore, maintenance/renewal fees for European patent applications can be paid up to 3 months in advance of their due date, except for the first fee (for the 3rd year) which can be paid up to 6 months in advance. Filing a divisional application before 1 April 2023 would also bring savings, as would requesting examination and paying designation fees ahead of the due date.
If you would like advice on this, please get in touch with us.
Last Friday, 17 February 2023, the German Government ratified the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court.
This was the last step required to complete the ratification process of the unitary patent package.
It also triggers the countdown of Article 89 UPCA, whereby the Court will open its doors on 1st June 2023 and Unitary Patents will be available from same date.
We have updated our timeline accordingly
As our readers will know, this is a major change in the European patent landscape.
Decisions have to be taken taken now by patent owners, since early requests for unitary patent protection can be already lodged with the EPO. Furthermore, the German ratification triggers the sunrise period, during which patent proprietors can opt out their European patents from the exclusive competence of the new Court.
Please contact your usual Freylinger patent attorney for questions you may have on the UP and UPC. You may also refer to our news on this topic:
On October 6th 2022, the Unified Patent Court Preparatory Team excitedly shared their implementation roadmap for the Unified Patent Court Agreement. The roadmap had initially planned the final ratification of the UPCA for the second half of December 2022, which would then define the date of entry into force of the UPCA to April 1st 2023 and the start of the Sunrise Period to January 1st 2023.
Unfortunately, in order to give enough time for users to prepare for the new system (and in particular in relation to the authentication keys required to access the Case Management System), the UPC has announced today that the start of the Sunrise Period will be delayed to March 1st 2023.
Accordingly, the date of entry into force of the UPCA and the date of application of the regulations regarding the Unitary Patent will be postponed to June 1st 2023.
The start date of the transitional measures regarding the Unitary Patent seems unchanged. From our understanding, it will thus be possible to file an early request for unitary effect and a request for a delay in issuing the decision to grant a European patent as of January 1st 2023.
Sources: Adjustment of the timeline – Start of the Sunrise Period on 1 March 2023
https://www.epo.org/applying/european/unitary/unitary-patent/transitional-arrangements-for-early-uptake.html
On the 1st November 2023, the ten-day rule will be abolished and documents communicated by the EPO will be deemed to be notified at their indicated date.
Associated periods will thus begin to lapse from the date mentioned on communications by the EPO. These periods expiring inevitably earlier, owners of pending patent applications and their legal representatives will need to adjust their tracking of deadlines.
These changes are part of a policy of adaptation of EPC regulations to the digitization of the procedure of patent granting. Further information available at https://www.epo.org/news-events/news/2022/20221021.html
Office Freylinger vous propose un webinaire consacré au système du brevet unitaire européen qui entrera en vigueur au printemps 2023. Il s’agit d’une révolution dans le monde des brevets en Europe.
Le webinaire se tiendra le vendredi 16 décembre de 11h00 à 12h00.
Philippe Ocvirk, European Patent Attorney, présentera ce nouveau système qui est attendu depuis plus de 50 ans et repose sur deux piliers :
Le webinaire propose une introduction à ce nouveau système. L’Office européen des brevets a annoncé des mesures transitoires qui permettent d’opter dès le 1er janvier 2023 pour un brevet unitaire à la délivrance du brevet européen. La nouvelle juridiction aura compétence pour tous les brevets européens, unitaires ou classiques, y compris ceux déjà délivrés.
Inscription gratuite en remplissant ce formulaire :
The present article presents some considerations on the possibility of opting out patents from the exclusive competence of the Unified Patent Court.
The UPC will include:
The new Court will obviously prevent situations of contradictory decisions that may occur when litigating the same case before different national Courts.
The Rules of Proceeding of the UPC are designed to reach decisions within one year, if the defined schedule is respected, thus substantially reducing the duration of proceedings compared to some national Courts.
The UPC is particularly powerful in case of multiple infringements in different European countries, since a decision can be obtained through a single action brought before the UPC and will have effect over all UPC-A member states. Choosing the UPC will, then, significantly reduce the litigation costs in comparison with several litigations to be carried out in different countries.
With the UPC, a European patent can be revoked in all states by a single decision. This will allow third parties and suspected infringers to efficiently challenge the validity, during the whole lifetime of the patents.
Hence European patents obtained before the UPC opening and for which the opposition period has expired will remain at risk of central revocation.
Moreover, the lack of experience and case law from the UPC may make choosing the UPC risky as we do not know yet the position that will be taken by the Court, in particular regarding the validity of patents. Also, UPC rules and procedures are obviously untried; it will take several years to achieve consistency in decisions.
Another element to consider where making the choice to opt out patents is that opt-out must be made by all proprietors and in respect of all of the states for which the European patent has been granted, not only EU member states. The first difficulty that may arise from this rule is to identify the true proprietors of the patent, which will not necessarily be the registered proprietors, especially when patents have been assigned from a third party. Ownership should be checked, although there is no necessity to update/correct registers. The second difficulty is the necessity for all the proprietors to join the opt-out request. As such, it is likely that when litigation arise, the opt out itself may be subject to discussion.
A proprietor having registered an opt-out and wishing to bring an action before the UPC to benefit from its pan-European jurisdiction may opt in again, by withdrawing the opt-out. However, the proprietor may be impeded from opting back in where an action has already been brought before a national Court; the patent is thus locked out of the UPC forever.
Philippe OCVIRK, Partner | European patent attorney
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) will open its doors in spring 2023. The date of 01.04.2023 has been announced by the Preparatory Committee . Its jurisdiction will extend over all European patents in the territories of EU member states having ratified the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC-A).
Antagonistically, while the UPC-A creates the long-awaited European patent Court, it also comprises provisions to derogate from its competence, known as ‘opt-out’.
According to Art. 3 of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC-A) the future UPC will have jurisdiction not only over European patents with unitary effect, but also over traditional European patents (‘validated’ patents) and pending applications, and over SPCs, even if these are granted before its entry into force.
During a ‘transitional‘ period however, the national Courts will remain competent to hear cases relating to validated European patents.
Opting-out is the option open to patentees and applicants to exclude disputes related to any of their validated European patents (in force or expired) or pending applications from the UPC’s jurisdiction. Any action for infringement or for revocation of an Opted-out European patent may only be heard by the competent national Courts, as is currently the case.
An opt-out has effect in all Member States and for the entire lifetime of the patent.
The UPC Preparatory Committee has decided that there will be no official fee for filing a request for an opt-out. There will however be costs associated with the handling of the opt-out procedure through your patent attorney firm.
For the avoidance of doubt, European patents with unitary effect cannot be opted out.
The registration of opt-outs will only be possible during the limited ‘transitional’ period (7 years, prolongable by 7 years). Practically, opt-out’s can be notified to the UPC Registry by the latest one month before expiry of the transitional period .
It should be noted that opting out will be possible during a ‘sunrise’ period spanning the three months preceding the opening of the UPC. The sunrise period is expected to start on 01.01.2023.
Important note: An Application to opt out a given patent cannot be registered if an action relating to said patent has already been brought before the UPC .
An application to opt out must be lodged with the UPC Registry.
Opt-outs are to be registered on a right per right basis and in the name of each and all proprietors or applicants.
The registers need not be updated, but in case of discrepancy a declaration must be filed alongside, stating that the requesters are entitled to be registered in the national patent registers.
The Application to opt out shall be made in respect of all of the states for which the European patent has been granted or which have been designated in the application.
The opt-out is only effective from the date of entry into the Register.
An opt-out can be withdrawn at any moment, provided no action has been brought before a national Court .
This opt-in will then be definitive: the patent proprietor will not be able to opt out its European patent again .
If an opt-out application was registered for a pending European patent application, said opt-out will be automatically deemed withdrawn should the patentee decides to request unitary effect (obtain a unitary patent).
Philippe OCVIRK, Partner | European patent attorney
The EPO has announced that its transitional measures for Unitary Patents (UP) will start on 1 January 2023.
From that date, applicants who have received a communication under rule 71(3) EC (intention to grant) may file:
The measures are applicable until the entry into operation of the UP system and UPC, which is expected to be on 1 April 2023.
The two transitional measures are interrelated but separate from a procedural perspective.
Early requests for unitary effect may only be filed for European patent applications in respect of which a communication under Rule 71(3) EPC has been despatched.
If the requirements for the registration of unitary effect as provided for in the Rules relating to Unitary Patent Protection are met, the EPO will register unitary effect once the Unitary Patent system has started and communicate the date of this registration to the requester. Otherwise, it will invite the requester to correct the deficiencies if applicable (already before grant) or reject the request for unitary effect.
The request should be filed using dedicated EPO Form 7000 and thus include the required translation.
This transitional measure allows the applicant to delay grant of a European patent in order to make it eligible for Unitary Patent protection.
A request for delay may be validly filed only for European patent applications in respect of which the applicant has been informed of the text intended for grant by a communication under Rule 71(3) EPC but has not yet approved that text.
A request for delay filed can be filed on the same day as the approval of the text intended for grant. The request for delay must be filed using dedicated EPO form 2025.
The European patent office (EPO) announced earlier this week the starting date of its transitional measures relating to unitary patent protection.
As of 1 January 2023, patent applicants will be able to:
These two measures – announced in December 2021 – were introduced to support an early uptake of the Unitary Patent by the users. Cautiously, the EPO initially considered that these measures would only apply after Germany would have effectively ratified.
With this announcement the EPO hence anticipates the German ratification, following the lead of the Unified Patent Court, who declared that it will open its doors on 1st April 2023 (see implementation roadmap)
The transitory measures are applicable until the entry into operation of the Unitary Patent Protection system.
Philippe OCVIRK, Partner & European patent attorney
The European patent with unitary effect (unitary patent) will be introduced on 1st April 2023. It is an optional protection, which can be obtained upon the grant of a European patent.
On same date, the Unified Patent Court will open its doors.
The unitary patent is created by two EU regulations issued in 2012, which were adopted through the route of enhanced cooperation between a number of “participating” EU member states (25 to date).
The application of the regulations depends on the entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC) of 19 February 2013 which establishes a specialized patent jurisdiction with pan-European competence.
The protocol on provisional application of the UPC Agreement entered into force on 19 January 2022.
The regulations will enter into force on the first day of the 4th month after the ratification of the UPCA by Germany, expected in December 2022.
As shown in the below timeline, the system will go live on 1 April 2023.
The unitary patent provides uniform protection and produces identical effects in all participating member states. It can only be limited, transferred, revoked or lapse in respect of all of them.
A single maintenance fee will be payable annually to the EPO (total cost less than €5000 over the first 10 years).
Initially the unitary patent will cover the 17 countries which have ratified the UPC Agreement: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Slovenia.
Any participating member state (currently 25) can ratify and join the system. This does not affect the coverage of European patents for which unitary effect was previously registered.
On grant of the European patent, the patent owner will have the choice between a unitary patent or classical validation of his patent in his countries of interest. The two protections coexist.
The request for unitary effect must be submitted by the owner to the European Patent Office within one month of the mention of the publication of the grant of the European patent. No fee is required.
Unitary effect can only be obtained for a European patent filed on or after 01.03.2007, and which has the same set of claims for all participating member states.
The new system abolishes translations by relying on high quality machine translations.
For a transitional period of 6 to 12 years, an English translation will have to be provided if the patent is granted in French or German. If the patent is granted in English, a translation will have to be provided in another EU language.
Two measures have been announced by the EPO. As from 1 January 2023 it will be possible to:
The UPC will have jurisdiction over European patent litigation in general. During a transitional period of 7 years, the owner of a patent (or application) will have the possibility to opt out from the exclusive jurisdiction of the UPC by notifying their opt-out to the Registry (except for unitary patents), so that litigation can be brought before a national court.
A sunrise period of 3 months will allow patentees to file their opt-outs in advance.
The creation of the unitary patent and the UPC is imminent and will considerably change the European patent system.
It is time for patent holders to review their portfolios, and determine which applications will be validated by the classical route or transformed into a unitary patent. Questions of delaying the examination procedure and of the opt-out should be raised.
Philippe Ocvirk, Partner | European patent attorney
Click this link to download our notice on the Unitary Patent.
