{"id":13792,"date":"2024-09-26T11:41:45","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T11:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/?post_type=ufaq&#038;p=13792"},"modified":"2025-09-06T21:53:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T21:53:02","slug":"what-is-a-unitary-patent","status":"publish","type":"ufaq","link":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/faq\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a unitary patent?"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>html, body {\r\n  height: 100%;\r\n  margin: 0;\r\n}\r\n\r\n#page {\r\n  display: grid;\r\n  grid-template-rows: auto 1fr auto;\r\n  min-height: 100vh;\r\n}\r\n\r\n.site-content {\r\n  padding: 20px;\r\n}\r\n\r\n.cta-button {\r\n  display: inline-block;\r\n  background-color: #f9c200; \/* Gele huisstijl *\/\r\n  color: #000000;\r\n  padding: 12px 24px;\r\n  text-decoration: none;\r\n  font-weight: bold;\r\n  border-radius: 6px;\r\n  margin-top: 16px;\r\n  transition: background-color 0.3s ease;\r\n}\r\n\r\n.cta-button:hover {\r\n  background-color: #e6b100;\r\n}<\/style><div  class=\"ewd-ufaq-faq-list ewd-ufaq-page-type-distinct ewd-ufaq-category-tabs- ewd-ufaq-faq-category-title-accordion\" id='ewd-ufaq-faq-list'>\n\n\t<input type='hidden' name='show_on_load' value='' id='ewd-ufaq-show-on-load' \/>\n<input type='hidden' name='include_category' value='' id='ewd-ufaq-include-category' \/>\n<input type='hidden' name='exclude_category' value='' id='ewd-ufaq-exclude-category' \/>\n<input type='hidden' name='orderby' value='date' id='ewd-ufaq-orderby' \/>\n<input type='hidden' name='order' value='asc' id='ewd-ufaq-order' \/>\n<input type='hidden' name='post_count' value='-1' id='ewd-ufaq-post-count' \/>\n<input type='hidden' name='current_url' value='\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ufaq\/13792' id='ewd-ufaq-current-url' \/>\n\t\n\t\n\t<div class='ewd-ufaq-faqs'>\n\n\t\t<div  class=\"ewd-ufaq-faq-div ewd-ufaq-faq-column-count-one ewd-ufaq-faq-responsive-columns- ewd-ufaq-faq-display-style-default ewd-ufaq-can-be-toggled\" id='ewd-ufaq-post-13792-iNudVwK52i' data-post_id='13792'>\n\n\t\t\n\t<div class='ewd-ufaq-faq-title ewd-ufaq-faq-toggle'>\n\t\n\t<a class='ewd-ufaq-post-margin'  href='#' role=\"button\">\n\n\t\t<div class='ewd-ufaq-post-margin-symbol ewd-ufaq-'>\n\t\t\t<span >A<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<div class='ewd-ufaq-faq-title-text'>\n\n\t\t\t<h4>\n\t\t\t\tWhat is a unitary patent?\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<div class='ewd-ufaq-clear'><\/div>\n\n\t<\/a>\n\t\n<\/div>\n\t<div class='ewd-ufaq-faq-excerpt'>\n\t<p>The unitary patent is a relatively new phenomenon in our field. It has been discussed a lot, even as early as 1973, when the European Patent Convention (EPC) came into force. But due to different political views among member states, it only came into force on 1 June 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t<div class='ewd-ufaq-faq-body' >\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class='ewd-ufaq-post-margin ewd-ufaq-faq-post'>\n\t<p>The unitary <a href=\"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/faq\/what-is-a-patent\/\">patent<\/a> is a relatively new phenomenon in our field. It has been discussed extensively, even as early as 1973, when the European Patent Convention (EPC) came into force. However, due to differing political views among the member states, it did not come into effect until June 1, 2023.<\/p>\n<div style=\"border: 2px solid #D8C039;padding: 20px;margin: 20px 0;border-radius: 4px;background-color: #fff;font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;line-height: 1.6\">\n<h3>Unitary patent since 2023<\/h3>\n<p>The unitary patent is a new European patent system that has been offering protection in 17 EU countries since June 2023 through a single central procedure and court (UPC). Advantage: lower costs than national validation. Disadvantage: opt-out possible until May 2030.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The unitary patent is also known as the <a href=\"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/faq\/there-is-a-european-patent\/\">European patent<\/a> referred to as unitary effect, but that is a very long title. That is why it is usually referred to as a unitary patent (abbreviation UP). It is intended to make patent protection in multiple EU countries easier and cheaper. Under the \u2018old\u2019 system, patent holders had to apply for and maintain separate patents for each country where they wanted protection after the patent was granted.<\/p>\n<p>A unitary patent is based on an already granted European patent. Once granted, the patent holder can now also choose to give it unitary effect. This means that the patent is no longer valid only in the chosen individual countries, but offers one uniform protection in all participating EU member states. Currently, 18 EU countries are participating, including Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n<p>There are a number of advantages of a unitary patent. For instance, patent holders no longer have to arrange national validations (making it valid by, among other things, translations of the claims) in several countries, as well as pay national fees. This makes UP a lot cheaper. It is also easier to launch infringement proceedings, as there is only one court, the Unified Patent Court (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unified-patent-court.org\/en\">UPC<\/a>). It has sole jurisdiction to decide disputes relating to unitary patents. This is in contrast to possible multi-country proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>There are also some disadvantages. The system is relatively new, so companies will have to get used to the changes. Where necessary, you will have to adjust your <a href=\"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/patents\/\">patent<\/a> You will need to adjust your strategy and redefine your position. Furthermore, a unitary patent does not offer protection in non-participating countries, which means that separate applications are still required in those countries.<\/p>\n<p>Still have a question about this, <a href=\"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/contact\/\">contact<\/a> please feel free to contact us. We are here to help you. We like to do that and do it well!<\/p>\n<a href=\"\/en\/contact\/\" class=\"cta-button\">Ask us a question<\/a>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class='ewd-ufaq-permalink'>\n\t\n\t<a href='https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/faq\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\/'>\n\t\t\n\t\tPermalink\t\t <div class='ewd-ufaq-permalink-image'><\/div> \t\n\t<\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The unitary patent is a relatively new phenomenon in our field. It has been discussed a lot, even as early as 1973, when the European Patent Convention (EPC) came into force. But due to different political views among member states, it only came into force on 1 June 2023.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","ufaq-category":[],"ufaq-tag":[],"class_list":["post-13792","ufaq","type-ufaq","status-publish","hentry","description-off"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Unitair octrooi: Europees patent in 18 landen | Custos IPC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Het unitair octrooi beschermt uw uitvinding in 18 Europese landen met \u00e9\u00e9n aanvraag. Leer alles over deze nieuwe patent procedure.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/faq\/what-is-a-unitary-patent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unitair octrooi: Europees patent in 18 landen | Custos IPC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Het unitair octrooi beschermt uw uitvinding in 18 Europese landen met \u00e9\u00e9n aanvraag. Leer alles over deze nieuwe patent procedure.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/faq\/what-is-a-unitary-patent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Custos IPC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-06T21:53:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/faq\\\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/faq\\\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\\\/\",\"name\":\"Unitair octrooi: Europees patent in 18 landen | Custos IPC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-26T11:41:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-06T21:53:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"Het unitair octrooi beschermt uw uitvinding in 18 Europese landen met \u00e9\u00e9n aanvraag. Leer alles over deze nieuwe patent procedure.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/faq\\\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/faq\\\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/faq\\\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"FAQ's\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/ufaq\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Wat is een unitair octrooi?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/\",\"name\":\"Custos IPC\",\"description\":\"Het co\u00f6peratie octrooibureau van en voor zelfstandige IP Professionals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Custos IPC\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/logo_custos-ipc_on-light.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/logo_custos-ipc_on-light.png\",\"width\":547,\"height\":149,\"caption\":\"Custos IPC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/custos-ipc.nl\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Unitary patent: European patent in 18 countries | Custos IPC","description":"The unitary patent protects your invention in 18 European countries with one application. Learn all about this new patent procedure.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/faq\/what-is-a-unitary-patent\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Unitair octrooi: Europees patent in 18 landen | Custos IPC","og_description":"Het unitair octrooi beschermt uw uitvinding in 18 Europese landen met \u00e9\u00e9n aanvraag. Leer alles over deze nieuwe patent procedure.","og_url":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/faq\/what-is-a-unitary-patent\/","og_site_name":"Custos IPC","article_modified_time":"2025-09-06T21:53:02+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/faq\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\/","url":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/faq\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\/","name":"Unitary patent: European patent in 18 countries | Custos IPC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-09-26T11:41:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-06T21:53:02+00:00","description":"The unitary patent protects your invention in 18 European countries with one application. Learn all about this new patent procedure.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/faq\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/faq\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/faq\/wat-is-een-unitair-octrooi\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"FAQ's","item":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/ufaq\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Wat is een unitair octrooi?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/","name":"Custos IPC","description":"The cooperative patent office of and for independent IP Professionals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/#organization","name":"Custos IPC","url":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/logo_custos-ipc_on-light.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/logo_custos-ipc_on-light.png","width":547,"height":149,"caption":"Custos IPC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ufaq\/13792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ufaq"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ufaq"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ufaq-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ufaq-category?post=13792"},{"taxonomy":"ufaq-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/custos-ipc.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ufaq-tag?post=13792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}