The Unitary Patent system grants you patent protection across Europe. Find out what this new system implies and what language services can do for you.
The European Unitary Patent became a reality on June 1. Granted, its name is a bit of a mouthful. But, if you’d like to launch your innovation in the European market, it’s in your interest to get acquainted with it.
This new system is a big step forward in the world of intellectual property. It grants you access to uniform patent protection across the European Union.
Keep on reading to find out more about the Unitary Patent, what it may mean for your business, and which language services you’ll need for your patent-related documents.
What’s the European Unitary Patent?
The Unitary Patent aims to stimulate research, development, and investment in innovation. With this in mind, the process of obtaining patents in the European Union (EU) has been simplified.
In the past, to protect your innovation in different EU countries, you had to apply for individual patents. The process was lengthy and costly. So, many inventors could only afford to patent their inventions in a handful of countries.
Hence the need for a Unitary Patent. This new system provides uniform protection across all participating countries.
Wondering what this means in practical terms? You submit one single request to the European Patent Office (EPO), and your invention is safe in up to 17 EU Member States.
Which countries are part of the Unitary Patent system?
The first European patents with unitary effect will come into force in the following countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- The Netherlands
- Portugal
- Slovenia
- Sweden
These 17 states were the first to ratify the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement. Another seven have already signed but not yet ratified the UPCA. And it’s expected that more EU Member States will come onboard in the next few years.
Which countries are unable to join the Unitary Patent?
Contracting states of the European Patent Convention (EPC) who aren’t in the EU won’t be able to join this system. Some examples are Iceland, Norway, Serbia and Switzerland.
What’s the process of registration like?
Within one month of having your patent published in the European Patent Bulletin, you must file a “Request for Unitary Effect”. The body in charge of examining your request is the European Patent Office (EPO).
During a six-year transitional period (extendable to 12 years), your patent specification will have to be translated into:
- English if the language of the proceedings before the EPO was French or German.
- Any other language of an EU member state if the proceedings took place in English.
Once the transitional period is over, machine translations will be used.
How does the Unitary Patent benefit you?
- Uniform protection.
The scope of the right granted and its remedies are the same for all participating countries.
- Legal certainty.
Before, in the event of a patent infringement, you had to litigate in parallel in all the European countries where you held a patent.
Now, the Unified Patent Court centralizes litigation. This results in jurisprudence being consistent, reducing the likelihood of conflicts of interpretation.
- Reduced costs.
Validating a patent in several countries leads to fees piling up. Publication fees to each patent office, local attorneys or IP agents’ fees, translation costs… The list is endless.
No fees are due to file a request for unitary effect. According to the EPO, a Unitary Patent costs less than having a European patent registered and maintained in four countries.
- Business-friendly renewal fee.
Under the new framework, you’ll only pay one single renewal fee to the EPO. Its calculation is based on the combined renewal fees of the four countries where classic European patents were most often validated.
And the result is that the total fees for the first ten years amount to less than €5,000.
Overall, the European Unitary Patent provides uniform patent protection in participating EU member states, simplifies the patent procedure, and reduces your costs.
Now, there may be a flip side to the unitary system coin. A single invalidation action filed with the Unified Patent Court (UPC) could potentially nullify the patent across all 17 participating countries. This contrasts with the national validation procedure, where patents must be challenged individually in each jurisdiction.
That’s one of the reasons why it may be in your interest to file for the national validation system. This would give you peace of mind, as your patent would be challenged in one single country. And you’d be able to conduct business as usual in any others where your patent is registered.
Will you still need to rely on translation services?
As mentioned earlier, during the transition, you’ll have to provide one translation of the European patent specification. This period may last up to 12 years.
After that time, this will no longer be a requirement, and the EPO will rely on “Patent Translate.” In other words, the patent claims will be translated by means of a machine translator.
Now, there’s no denying that machine translation has been evolving by leaps and bounds. But nothing replaces the knowledge and experience of a professional translator.
And the EPO is aware of it. That’s why, if there happens to be a dispute about the translation provided by “Patent Translate,” the patent holder will have to provide a human translation.
What sort of translator do you need for your Unitary Patent?
Patents are highly technical documents. And translating such content takes more than language skill. Translators must relay every nuance of the original patent application. And that requires having a comprehensive grasp of the specific domain.
That’s why patents should only be translated by subject matter experts (SME). Your translator should provide the same level of skill and knowledge required to draft the patent application in the first place. And, believe us, finding such profiles can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack.
But here’s some news for your peace of mind: we have 30 subject specialist in-house translators. And a large database of SMEs we collaborate with on a regular basis.
Did you know that Montero Language Services has been translating IP documents for 20 years? Find out more about our experience and services here.
