ROMANIA SET TO ACCEDE TO THE EUROPEAN UNITARY PATENT SYSTEM WITH EFFECT FROM 1 SEPTEMBER 2024

With effect from 1 September 2024, Romania will become part of the European Unitary Patents System and the Unified Patent Court (‘UPC’), alongside the Member States of the European Union that have already ratified the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (‘UPC Agreement’): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden. Romania will thus become the 18th Member State to ratify the UPC Agreement. As of 1 September 2024, the proprietor of a European patent will be able to file a request for unitary effect which will also cover Romania. However, in the interim a request for a delay in the registration of unitary effect is also provided for in order to ensure that users can benefit from the broader protection granted by the unitary patent coverage being extended to Romania. ADELPHE IP is available as always to provide any further details that may be required on this procedure.

 

For further information, visit :

https://www.epo.org/en/legal/official-journal/advance-notice-romania