UK will not be part of Unified Patent Court, ministers confirm

The United Kingdom will not be part of the Unified Patent Court, the Government has confirmed, in a move that has been predicted to make the proposed unitary patent less appealing for businesses.

UK ministers have taken the line that participating in a court that would apply EU law and be subject to rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union would be inconsistent with the Government's aim of becoming an independent, self-governing nation.

Agreement was reached on setting up the court, to deal with issues from the proposed unitary patent covering all EU member states, in 2012, but preparatory work took some years (London was chosen as one of three centres for the court to sit), and proceedings continue before the German Constitutional Court as to whether Germany can ratify the Convention, so it has yet to be constituted.

The Government’s policy paper setting out its approach to its future relationship with the EU states its wish for an agreement including an intellectual property chapter that secures mutual assurances for IP rights.

Partner Graham Burnett-Hall, a solicitor with IP firm Marks & Clerk specialising in patent litigation and cross-border dispute resolution, commented: "Previously there was a degree of optimism about the likelihood of participation in the Unified Patent Court, even if we decided to leave the EU, but this announcement has made it clear that will not happen.

"This is certainly a blow for industry, as it was felt the UPC would be an excellent forum to resolve patent disputes with a single set of legal proceedings in one court, with one judgement and one appeal process."

He added: "It will be very interesting to see what happens in the European Union and whether the unitary patent and UPC project will continue to go ahead without the UK – but even if it does it will almost certainly now be less appealing for businesses. At present most European patents are only validated in two or three countries, usually including the UK, so for many companies it will be cheaper for them to continue prosecuting patents as they do already rather than seeking unitary patent protection."