Unitary Patent uptake rate by field of technology report 2024

Unitary Patents have been available in Europe for over a year. It is therefore time to take stock of the new regime and ask, “Who has been using it?”.

In our latest report, we crunch the numbers to calculate the Unitary Patent uptake rate in various industries, and the results may surprise you.

Industry sectors where European patents are typically widely validated, such as Pharmaceuticals, have by and large put aside their fear of central revocation and embraced the Unitary Patent. In contrast, patents which under the old regime would have only been validated narrowly, perhaps in the UK, France and Germany only, have tended not to take advantage of the wider geographical coverage afforded by the Unitary Patent and continue to validate narrowly outside the Unitary Patent system. 

Overall, the Unitary Patent has been a modest success and will certainly have trimmed the costs of patent owners seeking broad geographical coverage. However, there is less evidence that SMEs with smaller patent budgets are using the Unitary Patent system as much as hoped.

To view and download a copy of the report, please click on the image below.

Abel + Imray are experts in UK and European patents and we represent clients at the Unified Patent Court (UPC). Get in touch if you would like to discuss your IP strategy or related matters.