Unitary European patent and UPC

The Unitary Patent now covers 17 EU countries without the need for national validations, saving entrepreneurs and innovators administrative work, translations, and fees. This provides a single protection with unitary effect. 

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) also centralises both the enforcement and defence of patents, resolving infringement and validity disputes in a single set of proceedings and thereby reducing the costs of parallel litigation.

However, it is important to know that the new fee structure from January 2026 has increased litigation costs, with court fees rising by more than 30% at first instance and by up to 30% on appeal. For innovative companies, the strategic decision whether to opt out or to pursue active enforcement is therefore key to understanding both the benefits and the risks of centralised dispute resolution.

How the Unitary Patent works and what it means for you

The Unitary European Patent is a new type of patent protection that automatically obtains unitary effect in all European Union Member States that have ratified the relevant agreement. At present (April 2026), there are seventeen such states. 

These are Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Slovenia, and Sweden. The Czech Republic has not yet ratified the agreement; nevertheless, Czech entrepreneurs and innovation owners can still make full use of the Unitary Patent.

The key innovation is that instead of a traditional European patent, which after grant had to be “validated” in each country separately (meaning translations, local fees, and communication with individual national offices), you now file a single application. You then simply request “unitary effect” from the European Patent Office. If a dispute later arises over the scope of protection, evidence, or cross-border enforcement strategy, it may be handled through Commercial Litigation & Arbitration in the Czech Republic.

The work is done, and the coverage is uniform. In practice, it looks like this: if you come up with an innovative solution in IT, chemistry, or mechanical engineering, the usual historical process was as follows. You file an application with the European Patent Office (EPO), the EPO examines it under uniform standards, publishes the application, and then grants the patent – or refuses it.

Until the EPO grants the patent, nothing special happens; the patent is valid “at the European level”. However, immediately after grant the patent effectively splits: in each country you “designated” in the application, it became part of the national legal system and each country “administered” it under its own rules. This meant complicated administration and costs.

With the Unitary Patent – if you request “unitary effect” within three months from grant – the patent automatically becomes a single right for all seventeen participating states. You do not need to translate anything separately, and you do not pay individual validation fees.

One patent, one annual renewal fee – and you have protection across the entire participating territory. Where innovation relies on software outputs or machine-generated content, it is also important to clarify ownership and licensing early, as discussed in Who Owns AI-Generated Code? Key Risks and Contracts in the Czech Republic and EU. For technologies based on software or AI, contractual arrangements for development and rights to the results are also often addressed, which is practically covered by the article Software development using artificial intelligence – who owns the code?. For companies, this brings a number of concrete advantages. First, it saves money (you can save tens of thousands of Czech crowns on translations and local fees). Second, it saves time (instead of coordinating with eighteen national offices, you manage everything through a single window). And third, it provides legal certainty – the Unitary Patent has a single set of rules for its validity and scope of protection, which is clear and predictable.

Why the Unified Patent Court (UPC) is essential for enforcing rights

Just as important as the new form of patent is the new court infrastructure. The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is an international court established by the participating EU Member States and began operating in June 2023. In practice, enforcement planning often depends on how commercial agreements allocate responsibilities and remedies, which is why a structured approach to Corporate & Holding Services in the Czech Republic can be relevant for IP-heavy groups. 

Its purpose is to resolve all disputes concerning infringement and validity of Unitary Patents as well as classic European patents across all participating countries from a single forum.

Before the UPC was established, the situation was chaotic. If someone infringed your patent in Germany, France, and the Benelux, you had to file three separate lawsuits before three different national courts (German, French, and Belgian or Dutch). 

Each court decided under its own law, and each could reach a different conclusion as to whether the patent was valid or whether infringement had occurred. This fragmentation is also a recurring issue in broader cross-border risk management, as outlined in When External Counsel Fails: Internal Legal Team's Role in Business Risk Management in the Czech Republic. The result was inconsistent decisions, high costs for legal representation in several countries, lengthy proceedings, and uncertainty. In practice, it therefore makes sense to have key issues contractually addressed already when entering the market and setting up licences or cooperation with partners, typically using services in the area of contracts and negotiations. In such situations, procedural strategy and the management of evidence in the dispute typically come into play, with support from the team for commercial and litigation disputes.

The UPC seeks to address this through centralisation. You file a single infringement action before the UPC, which may concern infringement in any of the seventeen countries, and the UPC decides it in one set of proceedings. When practically setting up contractual relationships abroad (including choice of law and dispute resolution), it may also help to refer to an overview of how to prepare General Terms and Conditions for Germany: How to set them up so they stand up under German law. All decisions are uniform and apply across the entire territory of all participating Member States. 

Likewise, the defendant (the party against whom the action is brought) can challenge the validity of the patent in a single set of proceedings, and the UPC will decide centrally, with effect for all participating states.

The Unified Patent Court has three levels: the Court of First Instance (divided into local, regional, and central divisions with its main seat in Paris and sections in Munich and Milan), the Court of Appeal in Luxembourg, and the Registry. Your case usually starts at the Court of First Instance, and if you decide to go further, you can appeal to the Court of Appeal.

From the perspective of your business, this means: if you have a Unitary Patent and suspect a competitor of infringement, you can sue them directly before the UPC. The competitor cannot escape to another country with the argument “it is not infringement here”, because the UPC has decisive jurisdiction. 

At the same time, if a competitor challenges the validity of your patent, this again takes place before the UPC and the effect is pan-European – either your patent remains fully in force everywhere, or it remains confirmed by the court everywhere in a limited form. There is no room for split decisions. This is a revolution that reduces legal uncertainty and allows businesses to trust that their investment in innovation will be protected uniformly and effectively.

Practical aspects of enforcement – from notice to court

When you have a Unitary Patent and discover that someone is infringing it, the usual procedure is as follows:

First phase: Notice and negotiations

The first thing an experienced lawyer does is a careful infringement assessment. It is not easy to say that a competitor is infringing your patent without verifying it thoroughly. They must compare feature by feature – the specific elements of the competitor’s product – with what is defined by the patent claims.

Once specialised attorneys or your external legal counsel verify that the infringement is real, a notice is usually prepared (also called a “cease and desist letter”). 

This is not a legal document filed with the court; it is a letter to the competitor in which you notify them that you have a patent, that they are infringing your patent, and you call on them to stop the infringement and, where appropriate, you offer to negotiate a licence.

This phase is critical. Many disputes are resolved this way without court proceedings – the competitor takes your notice, verifies that you really do have a patent, and agrees with you on a licence agreement under which they pay you royalties (a certain percentage of their revenues from the product that uses your patent). 

For both sides, this is often the preferred outcome: you secure income, the competitor has a legal way to operate, and no one is burdened by litigation.

Specialised attorneys will help you substantiate the notice so that it is firm but legally safe. A flawed letter can sometimes be interpreted as manipulation or unjustified harassment and could expose you to a counterclaim.

Second phase: Preliminary injunction (preliminary injunction)

If negotiations fail, you have two options. One is to file the main action, but that takes time. The other, which is often filed at the same time, is an application for a preliminary injunction (in English “preliminary injunction” or “interim relief”). Legally speaking, this is a protective measure – an effort by the court to ensure that the situation does not worsen while waiting for the main proceedings.

Specifically: you ask the UPC to issue an order requiring the competitor to immediately stop the infringement – to pull the product from the market, stop production, and destroy remaining stock.

All of this even before the proceedings on the merits are concluded. The reason is obvious: the infringing product is being sold in the meantime, the competitor is making profits, you lose market share, and later, when you win in court, it will be difficult to “turn back time”.

For the UPC to grant such a preliminary injunction, you must meet several conditions. You must show that it is seriously likely that you will win – i.e., that your patent is apparently valid and the competitor is apparently infringing it. You must demonstrate that without such a measure you face irreparable harm (to the market, reputation, revenues). And you must show that urgency is high – that if measures are not taken now, the situation will deteriorate.

In January 2026, new court fee rates were introduced at the UPC. As regards a preliminary injunction, the court fee increased to EUR 14,000 per application. For a business dealing with infringement, this is a cost that often pays off. When a competitor sees a preliminary injunction, they usually back down. The case therefore never reaches the stage of lengthy court proceedings.

Third phase: Main proceedings before the Court of First Instance

If the matter is not resolved through negotiations or a preliminary injunction, you proceed to the main proceedings. Here you file a claim with the UPC requesting that the court find infringement of your patent, issue a perpetual injunction (a permanent prohibition of infringement), award you compensation (so-called damages) for the harm, and possibly also order the destruction of infringing goods.

Calculating damages is complex and usually requires an expert opinion. Specialised attorneys can handle this and will work with you to gather the data the court needs for the calculation. 

In the EU, damages are calculated using three basic methods: (1) lost profits, (2) the profit the competitor made through the infringement (so-called account of profits), (3) a reasonable royalty (the amount the parties would have agreed in a hypothetical licence agreement).

In January 2026, the fees for the main proceedings also changed. For a typical infringement action valued at EUR 2 million, the court fee increased from EUR 24,000 to EUR 31,800 – an increase of 32.5%. These are significant amounts, but still a small fraction of the losses caused by infringement. 

Well-managed proceedings in the EU typically take 2–3 years, which is significantly faster than the old regime, where you would have had to deal with several national proceedings one after another.

UPC Central Division – a role for more complex technologies

In addition to local and regional divisions, the Unified Patent Court also has a central division. The central division is seated in Paris with sections in Munich and Milan, and its purpose is to deal with so-called “technically complex cases” – i.e., disputes that require deeper technical expertise. 

The central division is also the only one that decides certain categories of cases according to the type of patent (for example, all disputes concerning biotechnology patents or patents in certain industrial classes).

Selecting the right division within the UPC is not a trivial matter. If you have a patent in IT or biomedicine and suspect a competitor of infringement, specialised attorneys will help you determine whether the case should be handled by the central division or whether a local division is appropriate. This affects deadlines, the composition of the court, and who will be hearing your case.

Opt-out: A strategic decision

This is where another critical decision comes in. Every patent granted to you by the EPO from 1 June 2023 onwards automatically falls under the jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court. This means that if a dispute arises, it is handled by the UPC. This is not automatically a bad thing – the UPC offers a centralised solution, uniform law, and a faster procedure.

However, you have the option of an opt-out – i.e., to expressly withdraw from the UPC’s jurisdiction. If you choose this, your patent remains a “classic” European patent handled in the traditional way: in the event of a dispute, you go to national courts (German, French, etc.). 

Opt-out is an administrative procedure free of charge, which you must have processed with the European Patent Office during the so-called transitional period.

This transitional period lasts seven years, i.e., until 31 May 2030 (with the possibility of extension by another seven years). This means you have time to decide. You do not have to do it immediately after the patent is granted.

When is an opt-out worthwhile? Usually when you know that your competitors are concentrated in a particular country (for example, Germany, which has a very strong patent court and experienced judges). 

If you know that the dispute will most likely be heard in Germany, it may be worthwhile to opt out and handle the matter before the German court, which we know and whose case law we are familiar with. But this is a strategy we call a “small patent” – where it is a patent you want to protect only locally.

If, on the other hand, you have a patent that is being infringed in several countries at the same time, or you want to enforce it actively across Europe, opting out is not worthwhile. The UPC will give you a single solution and save you legal costs and time.

Specialised attorneys can help you assess your specific situation and advise what is more advantageous for you.

How to defend a patent against validity attacks

However, an infringer or competitor does not only have to “run away from court” – they can also attack the validity of your patent. At the UPC, this means that whenever a competitor is sued for infringement, they can file a counterclaim for revocation. The competitor then says in one set of proceedings: “I may be infringing your patent, but your patent is not valid, so revoke it.”

This is a fairly serious matter. If the court finds grounds for revocation – for example, that your invention is not new or cannot be carried out based on your description – you will lose your patent everywhere. Again, the centralised nature of the UPC means high stakes.

You therefore need to prepare your defence. At the UPC, the EPO also plays a role, and third parties may seek revocation of patents in opposition proceedings. If your patent is “under attack” in an opposition before the EPO, i.e., a competitor or third party is already challenging its validity at the EPO, it is common for the UPC court to stay the proceedings – waiting to see how the EPO decides. The reason: if the EPO revokes your patent, there is no point in the UPC deciding infringement of a non-existent patent.

Specialised attorneys can help you prepare the defence of your patent. This includes, for example:

• Analysis of the prior art and verification that your invention is truly new.
• Verification that your patent is internally consistent and that a person skilled in the art can carry it out based on your specification.
• Preparation of witness statements and expert opinions confirming that your invention was unexpected and inventive.
• Selecting the strongest wording of your claims – wording that will be difficult to challenge without weakening the scope of protection.

Risk table and practical impacts

Practical guide for innovation owners: From filing a patent to enforcement

For your innovation to be truly protected, you need to understand the entire process from the very beginning. It is not just about filing a patent and waiting. A patent strategy is prepared in advance.

Phase 1: Preparing for patenting

If you are working on an innovation that can be patented, you should be careful about disclosing it. European patent law is strict on novelty. As a general rule, any public disclosure of your invention before the filing date of the patent application can destroy its novelty and make it impossible to patent. 

There are only very limited exceptions to this rule. It is therefore crucial to file the application before you go public with the innovation.

Experienced attorneys can help you assess what you can and cannot disclose and prepare the filing timeline. Sometimes it is also advantageous to file a so-called utility model or small patent – a short-form instrument with a lower level of protection to secure a filing date – and then file a full patent later.

Phase 2: Deciding between a Unitary Patent and a classic European patent

Once your application reaches the EPO and substantive examination begins, the time for a decision will eventually come. If the EPO grants your patent (which typically takes 3–5 years from filing), you can choose in the application whether to request unitary effect or whether to opt for a classic European patent followed by validation in individual countries.

This is a key decision and should be made consciously. You should know:

• Where do you sell your products or services? Is it mainly in UPC member states, or do you sell outside the UPC (UK, Switzerland, third countries – a unitary patent will not help you there).
• Who are your competitors and where do they “attack”? Are they spread across multiple countries (a unitary patent is better for you) or concentrated in one state (perhaps a classic European patent and enforcement before a single national court)?
• What is your business plan – do you plan to actively enforce the patent, or do you mainly want it for your own protection and licensing?

Phase 3: Monitoring and early detection of infringement

After you have a patent, you should monitor it. This means watching the market, competitors, and new products. Many infringements start with small-scale imports or local production – and if you know about it early, you can act more effectively. Conversely, if infringement spreads to multiple countries and a competitor builds a business model around it, it becomes harder to act later and more expensive to resolve.

Specialised attorneys can run monitoring and alert you when it is time to act. If we are using a patent in the classic European context, we should look at whether a competitor is infringing it in which country. If we are using a unitary patent, monitoring is simpler – you have one patent and you track whether it is being infringed in one or more countries.

New trends and changes in the unitary patent (2025–2026)

From the start of UPC operations in June 2023 to April 2026, the system has undergone a number of developments.

The increase in fees in January 2026 is something you should take into account when calculating the risks and benefits of proceedings.

The development of UPC case law is another important aspect. In the first three years of UPC operation, principles and precedents have been formed for how the law will be applied. For example, the UPC clarified the standard of proof for “more likely than not” when assessing validity in preliminary injunction proceedings. This is important for strategy – if you know what the court expects, you can prepare better.

The growing number of unitary patents shows that the system is taking hold. The number of requests for unitary effect has reached over 86,000 since launch. Approximately 28.7% of all patents granted in the EU in 2025 requested unitary effect, meaning that companies see it as efficient and are moving away from the traditional fragmentation.

The EPO’s and UPC’s focus on SMEs and startups is an opportunity. Support schemes such as the SME Fund 2026 exist and can cover up to 75% of patenting fees and up to EUR 1,500 for legal advice on a European patent. This is an opportunity for smaller companies and startups to afford patent protection and access the UPC system.

Attorneys are closely involved in these developments and can help you access this support and set a strategy that reflects the new environment.

Defending innovation: Legal strategies beyond patents

The unitary patent is a powerful tool, but it should not be the only tool in your defence. Experienced companies protect themselves in multiple layers:

Trade secrets

Part of your innovation does not have to be patented – it can remain a trade secret. For example, a specific composition, recipe, algorithm, or manufacturing process. Trade secret protection is provided by the EU Trade Secrets Directive (2016/943/EU) and Czech law. A trade secret lasts as long as you protect it; it does not expire like a patent after 20 years.

Advantage: a competitor cannot easily “buy” it or “rewrite” it. Disadvantage: if a competitor discovers it through its own development or with reasonable effort, it is not protected – they can use it without liability.

Specialised attorneys can help you decide what to patent and what to protect as a secret.

Contracts and NDAs (nondisclosure agreements)

If you negotiate with your suppliers, partners, or investors, you should bind them to keep your innovation confidential. This is done through confidentiality agreements – NDAs. These are legally enforceable documents. A breach of an NDA entitles you to claim damages.

Design and branding

Some aspects of your innovation can be protected as industrial designs – the visual appearance of a product. This also gives you legal protection that you can enforce.

Final summary

The European unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court represent a fundamental shift in the protection of innovation in Europe. You are no longer dependent on a chaotic approach to infringement across national courts in each country – you have a single legal framework, a single court, and a single solution. This means lower costs, greater legal certainty, and faster dispute resolution.

However, the reality is more complex than it may seem. The decision whether to request a unitary patent or remain in the traditional regime must be carefully considered and should be based on your specific situation – where you sell, who competes with you, and what your objectives are. 

Enforcement – from notifying a competitor through to court proceedings – requires legal expertise and strategic insight. The new fees from January 2026 mean higher costs that need to be factored in. And defending your patent against attempts to revoke it requires care and preparation.

If you decide that you want to protect your innovations effectively—without risk, without mistakes, and without unnecessary costs—specialized attorneys can help you. They understand EU patent law, they understand the UPC, its procedures, and the latest decisions. They will help you choose the right strategy, prepare you for the proceedings, communicate with you throughout, and represent you in court. 

Contact them at consultation@arws.cz to arrange a consultation where you will clarify how best to protect your innovation.

• Legal services : attorney fees. These vary, but for UPC proceedings you should expect tens of thousands of euros.
• Expert opinions : if the patent is technically complex, you will need an expert to prepare an opinion. This costs thousands of euros.
• Reimbursement of the other party’s costs : in some cases, the court may order you to pay the opponent’s expenses (if you lose). This can be partially minimized, but you should keep it in mind.
• Time and resources : your team will have to devote time to the proceedings—this is lost working time.

Specialized attorneys will help you budget and prepare for realistic costs. Contact consultation@arws.cz.

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