EU Launches Unitary Patent System (UPS) "single patent authority" June 1, 2023

 A wise associate of mine shared this and I thought you might find value:

If you have issued European patents or applications in process, this will impact you. This may have a material impact on portfolio valuations or strategies on how you protect your holdings as well.

What. On June 1, 2023, the Unitary Patent will launch throughout the EU with the goal to create a single patent authority for all participating member countries. Currently, a EU patent holder or applicant must apply to have a patent individually “validated” by specific European countries in order to receive patent protection within the validating country. The Unitary Patent system (UPS) is intended to streamline this process and provide protection across all participating countries with a single patent.

Beginning on March 1, 2023, entities that hold issued European patents or pending applications will have the opportunity to “opt out” of the UPS. If no action is taken, all patents which issue after June 1, 2023 will be subject to Unitary Patent jurisdiction.

Why taking action matters. Opting out may be prudent, especially during the initial transition period, as much of the UPS remains unknown and untested in the courts. If you have EU patents and/or applicants you should give careful consideration to your patent strategy under this new system moving forward.

Additionally, some EU countries will not participate in the UPS, and patent holders will be required to continue to individually validate patents within non-participating countries in order to receive protection. Only 17 countries will participate and an additional 8 have said they might join in the future. Only the UK and Spain have said they will not join.

More info. The following article has more detailed info, it’s short, concise and details deadlines:

https://sites-vedderprice.vuturevx.com/12/3809/uploads/unitary-patent-system.pdf

If you currently have EU holdings or applications in process and have an IP attorney you may want to consult them.

Hope that you find this useful.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interview with Dukie Josh Felser about his new VC fund, Climatic

Image
Check out this interview with Dukie Josh Felser with his business partner Raj Kapoor about their new VC fund, Climatic Earlier this month, Climactic, a New York City and San Francisco, Calif.-based venture capital firm, launched with a $65M inaugural fund. In conjunction with the announcement, Raj Kapoor and Josh Felser replied to our questions about the firm, their strategy, what they like to see in founders and introduced their portfolio companies. Listen here: https://vcwire.tech/2023/12/29/climatic-joint-interview-with-raj-kapoor-and-josh-felser/
Read more

Important questions for Pre-Seed founders, “What is your distribution trick?”

Image
This thread caught my attention: Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC)   @MartinGTobias One of the most important questions I ask Pre-Seed founders is:  “What is your distribution trick?” I have found that having a distribution trick is key to pre-seed success.  Getting your first customers. Here are some good and not-so-good answers to the question. Good: - I have sold into the customers before and have relationships to get first customers - We have a waitlist of XX - We did YYY customer discovery calls and x% of them would like to see a product. - I am on the board of the trade association of customers I will be selling to Not so good: - Google/facebook ads - “influencers” yet to be determined. - We have spent zero on marketing and have no idea where the web traffic comes from, but is free! - “viral” - “word of mouth” - We sell to SMBs and there are a lot of them, so a small percentage is great X (formerly Twitter) Martin Tobias (Pre-Seed VC) (@MartinGTobias) on X Entrepreneur, I...
Read more