INTRODUCTION Contributed by: Gordon Harris and Vittorio Cerulli Irelli, Trevisan & Cuonzo
Croatia chose not to sign the UPCA in 2013 and have not done so in the following years. To participate in the Court procedure, all the signatories of the UPCA have to formally ratify the Agreement. As of the date of publication of this guide (30 June 2025), 18 European Union member states have formally ratified the UPCA and are now participating member states of the new court. They are (in full): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lativa, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slove - nia, Sweden. Signatories that are yet to ratify are Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, and Slovakia. The remaining country of the original 25 signa - tories is the United Kingdom, which withdrew in 2020 following the Brexit referendum. What Patents Are Involved? The default position is that all European patents designated in participating member states are within the jurisdiction of the UPC. However, the option exists for owners of extant patents to opt out of the system. There was a sunrise period prior to the commencement of the UPC for pat - entees to notify the court office that they wished to opt out specific patents. During a transitional period for seven years from the commencement of the UPC, patent owners can still have their patents opted out of the system. Once opted out, a patent is outside the scope of the UPC for its full life, unless the owner exercis - es its right to opt back in at any time, for example if it wishes to commence a large enforcement action. Once a patent is opted back in, it cannot be opted out again.
As of the commencement of the UPC, another option is open to new patent applicants. Instead of seeking a basket of national patents as in the previous system, they may seek a UP designa - tion, which gives rise to a single Unitary Patent across the full scope of the participating member states. National designations can still be sought for non-participating or non-EU countries. Structure of the UPC The UPC has two tiers. At first instance there are Local Divisions, a Regional Division and a Central Division. Above that sits a single Court of Appeal. Specific questions of EU law can also be referred to the Court of Justice of the Euro - pean Union. Each participating country is entitled to host a Local Division court. Due to the sheer volume of cases handled in Germany, it was allowed four Local Divisions. Some countries have not yet established a Local Division. Cases that should be commenced in those countries (see “Jurisdiction” below) must be commenced in the appropriate Central Division. If a group of countries agreed that they did not have sufficient work for individual Local Divi - sions, they were entitled to open a Regional Division – a single court that covers all of the countries involved. Only one such Regional Divi - sion has been created so far – a Baltic Division covering Sweden, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The Central Division has its seat in Paris, with sections in Milan and Munich. They primarily deal with revocation actions and declarations of non-infringement, with cases allocated across sections based on the technology of the patent (see “Jurisdiction” below).
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