The deposit of the Unified Patent Court Agreement ratification instrument by Germany will trigger the Sunrise period and the entry into force of the UPCA (3 months after the start of the Sunrise period).
In anticipation of the opening of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) that is currently planned for April 1st 2023, it will be possible to opt out existing patents and patent application from the jurisdiction of the UPC.
The start of the sunrise period is expected on January 1st 2023.
What should the owner of an European patent or the applicant of an European patent application do during this preliminary period?
The owner/applicant has to choose whether filing an opt-out or not.
Without such opting out, the patent or patent application will remain subject to the UPC jurisdiction.
The opting out enables thus to remain subject to the competence rules that are currently in force, and in particular the competence of the national courts for the infringement of each national part of the European patent.
The opt-out can be withdrawn at any time upon request until an action within the exclusive jurisdiction of the UPC has already been brought before a national court.
Such choice is of high strategical interest and our experts at LAVOIX are at your disposal to assist you in this decision and process.
