6 minute read
27 February 2023

How high are my potential cost savings by electing a Unitary Patent over traditional national validations?

Once the Unified Patent Court (UPC) comes into force in 2023, users in receipt of a granted European patent will have the option of requesting unitary effect in addition to the existing scheme of performing national validations. The UP is a single patent right conferring protection in all European Patent Convention (EPC) states that have signed and ratified the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA). Users will therefore be presented with the flexibility to obtain patent protection in their jurisdictions of choice through national validations, the UP or a combination of the two.

The UPC will have jurisdiction for infringement and revocation actions both for Unitary Patents and traditional European patents. UPC decisions will have effect in all States that are participating in the UPC and UP system. All granted European patents and European patent applications that are pending before the entry into force of the UPC will automatically fall under the jurisdiction of the UPC.

There are pro and cons of the UPC having jurisdiction over your existing European patents and applications. One might be the expected cost savings by choosing a Unitary Patent over traditional national validations. These savings are expected to increase as more States join the UPC and UP system.

To help you with the strategic decision, we have created the UPCalculator™, a cost calculator which helps you to work out if and when a Unitary Patent will be more cost effective than traditional national validations.

Register for UPCalculator™

The UPCalculator™ is a tool developed internally by Gowling WLG to assist you in estimating the cost comparisons of these various scenarios over the lifetime of the patent(s). Users can readily determine whether it would be cost effective or not to use the UP to obtain protection in their jurisdictions of choice, taking into account various factors such as the specification length (which impacts translations fees) and the year of lapse for each of the selected countries.

The Gowling WLG UPCalculator™ may be accessed free of charge for personal and commercial use (such as for advising third parties). By entering your data and email address below, you are agreeing to the following terms of use:

  1. That Gowling WLG owns all intellectual property rights to the UPCalculator.
  2. That the appearance of the UPCalculator and results generated by the UPCalculator may not be modified in any way.
  3. That if the UPCalculator is used commercially, any reference to the UPCalculator or results thereof must accredit Gowling WLG and any report that is generated by the UPCalculator must bear the Gowling WLG logo.
  4. That if any visual aspect of the UPCalculator is shared (e.g. on screen or otherwise), the Gowling WLG logo must always be visible.
  5. That Gowling WLG are permitted to contact you regarding any updates to the UPCalculatorTM or the terms of use.
  6. By submitting your personal details you are permitting us to contact you with email communications from Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP and from Gowling WLG (UK) LLP ("Gowling WLG") related to intellectual property (including event details), as well as future invitations, announcements and other communications about the group of Gowling WLG member firms and their respective affiliates in Canada, China, France, Germany, UK, UAE, please indicate your consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
    You also acknowledge that you have read our privacy statement and consent to our processing data in accordance with it. Use of this form does not create a client relationship with Gowling WLG and information transmitted will not necessarily be treated as privileged or confidential.

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