The Unitary Patent is a patent protection procedure subsequent to the European patent procedure.
The Unitary Patent, like the European Patent, is administered by the European Patent Office (EPO – www.epo.org) and involves obtaining a single patent that will develop its effects, at least initially, in 17 participating European Union countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden.
Other EU member states (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Romania, and Slovakia) are expected to ratify it in the near future, while Spain, Poland, and Croatia are not planning to join this unitary system for now.
The Unitary Patent procedure will not replace the patent protection procedure in the individual countries of the European Union, but will run alongside it.
