The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is a single patent court covering 17 countries (18 from 1 September 2024), all of which are European Union Member States that have ratified the UPC Agreement.
The UPC has jurisdiction over the following patent rights:
The UPC consists of a Court of First Instance, a Court of Appeal and a Registry. The Court of First Instance has a central division, located in Paris and Munich, and local and regional divisions. The central division is divided by subject matter, with court location determined by the patent technology area.
Any Contracting EU Member State may set up a local division, or together with other states set up a regional division. The Court of Appeal and the Registry, which handles administration of the court, is based in Luxembourg.
You can see the full list of the local and regional divisions here.
The processes and procedures before the UPC are set out in an extensive set of rules. Our UPC representatives are on hand to guide you through the complex processes and procedures.
