English Further Established as a Key Language of the Unified Patent Court

In announcements coinciding with the opening of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) on 1 June, the French, German and Italian local divisions of the UPC designated English as an available language of proceedings. This follows a period of uncertainty as to whether these local divisions would allow use of English in proceedings as an alternative to the official language of their state.

As a result, all local and regional divisions of the UPC have designated English as an available language for proceedings, as can be seen from the UPC’s current summary. English is thus likely to be a commonly used language in UPC proceedings, including infringement proceedings before local/regional divisions and revocation proceedings before the central division. Revocation proceedings before the central division are conducted in the language in which the patent was granted, with the majority of European patents (around 75%) being granted in English.

The rules on representation have generously allowed substantially all UK-based European patent attorneys to be added to the list of approved representatives before the divisions of the UPC. These developments mean that English is likely to be the language of the proceedings for the majority of UPC actions, and underscores the suitability and availability of a UK representative for a UPC action. J A Kemp is well placed to represent clients in English before the UPC, with more than 60 European patent attorneys who are also UPC representatives.