epi Communication regarding Brexit
July 14, 2016
Following the result of the referendum of June 23 in the UK to leave the EU, epi would like to point out:
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Since the UK will under any circumstances remain a member of the European Patent Convention, being not an EU instrument, there will be no consequences on the current system of European Patents. All existing European Patents validated in the UK will remain valid, even after the UK may have left the EU. Similarly, European Patent Applications filed in the past and in the future can be validated in the UK. All European Patent Attorneys situated in the UK will still be able to represent in all proceedings before the EPO.
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It is currently difficult to predict any possible effects from an exit of the UK from the EU on the planned European Patent with Unitary Effect (“Unitary Patent”) and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) because its future, including its coming into force, will now depend on decisions to be taken by the UK and the other contracting member states of the UPC-Agreement.
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The epi continues to support the Unitary Patent/UPC system as an attempt to further harmonize and simplify the patent system in Europe and would like to see the system to come into force. However, any solution to address the present situation of the UK should avoid to introduce additional legal uncertainties for users and affected third parties.