Earlier this year, the European Patent Office announced that the Unitary Patent Guidelines (UP Guidelines) officially entered into force on April 1. The UP guidelines set out in detail the procedural rules governing the grant of the Unitary Patent. The European Patent Office provided the UP guidelines in HTML format, with three official languages: English, German, and French[1].

The UP Guidelines consist of eight chapters. Chapter 1 (General Provisions) sets out the legal basis of the Unitary Patent system, the structure of the Unified Patent Court, and the role of the Unitary Patent Protection Division (UPP) within the European Patent Office, which is responsible for handling matters relating to Unitary Patents.

Chapters 2 to 5 provide detailed guidance on the request for unitary effect, fee-related regulations, re-establishment of rights, and interruption and resumption of proceedings. Although no fee is charged for the request for unitary effect itself, the patent holder is nevertheless required to pay the annual renewal fees for Unitary Patents to the EPO, using the same payment method as that applicable to a traditional European patent[2].

The entry into force of the UP Guidelines will further clarify the procedural rules for applications. It has been nearly two years since the Unitary Patent system came into effect, and the Unified Patent Court has already rendered several decisions[3]. This system is the result of decades of effort by European countries, and the territorial effect of patent rights is no longer confined by national borders, making it a valuable tool for businesses.

Nevertheless, the Unitary Patent system does not extend to the entire European continent, and some EU member states have not yet participated. How enterprises and patent applicants can effectively make use of both the new and the existing systems will be discussed in the following articles.

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[1] https://www.epo.org/en/legal/official-journal/2025/01/a6.html, Notice from the European Patent Office dated 3 December 2024 concerning the publication of the Unitary Patent Guidelines, European Patent Office.

[2] https://www.epo.org/en/legal/guidelines-up/2025/index.html, Guidelines Unitary Patent, European Patent Office.

[3] https://www.unified-patent-court.org/en/decisions-and-orders, Decisions and Orders, European Patent Court.