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The UK’s vote to leave the European Union (EU) has created uncertainty for intellectual property rights in Europe. The situation for patents is simple though – there will be no change when the UK leaves the EU.
The European Patent Office (EPO) has never been part of the EU, so Carpmaels & Ransford will continue to provide pan-European prosecution and litigation in the UK national courts, as we have done for many years.
The Unitary Patent will be a single patent covering all participating Member States of the European Union. It will be available with almost no translation costs and will have a single relatively low renewal fee.
The Unified Patent Court will have exclusive jurisdiction over the new Unitary Patents and all other patents granted by the EPO (subject to an opt-out).