EPO Changes Start Date of Period for Deferring Grant of a European Patent to Obtain a Unitary Patent

We have previously reported that the EPO will be implementing a temporary period in which applicants may request a delay in the issuance of a European patent until entry into force of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement, allowing a Unitary Patent to be obtained based on the European patent.

The President of the European Patent Office has decided that this temporary period will begin on 1 January 2023. See also the accompanying EPO notices on this decision, here and here.

This follows previous decisions indicating that the temporary period would begin on the date that Germany deposits its instrument of ratification of the UPC Agreement. As we have previously reported, this is expected to happen in December 2022. The EPO’s decision to change the start date to 1 January 2023 may be to provide applicants with a greater degree of certainty.

This temporary period will end on the date that the UPC Agreement enters into force. The requirements for requesting a delay in the grant of a European patent are set out in our previous news item here.

You can find out more details about the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court here.

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