19 December
2022
From 1 January
2023 the period for early uptake of the Unitary Patent begins. The Unitary Patent system is expected to
enter into force on 1 June 2023, when the Unified Patent Court (UPC) should
also come into operation, heralding a new era for patent protection in Europe.
The sunrise
period for the UPC should begin on 1 March 2023.
Official forms
relating to the early uptake of the Unitary Patent are now available on the EPO
website. These relate to requests for unitary effect, as well as to requests for
delay in issuing the decision to grant a European patent, so as to benefit from
unitary effect in due course. These forms can be validly submitted only from
1 January 2023, and not before. The EPO’s Online Filing 2.0 tool will be
updated to receive the new requests from that date.
We are making
our forms and associated guidance for online filing available now in light of
the office closure over the Christmas and New Year period (24 December to 1
January). Our online filing tools remain operational throughout the closure.
The EPO re-opens for ordinary business from 2 January 2023, including
processing of the requests filed.
