On June 1, the unitary patent celebrated its first anniversary. It is time to take stock.
As a reminder, the unitary patent simplifies the procedure for granting a European patent by authorizing a single validation in 17 European Union countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.
As a result of this simplification, the launch is already proving a success. In 1 year, more than 28,000 unitary patents have been filed.
In 2024, nearly 25% of all European patents granted will be the subject of a unitary patent application. While one might have thought that the Brexit and Spain’s absence from the unitary patent agreement might have been a brake on its adoption, we can see that this is not the case.
It is also interesting to note that France is No. 3 of applicants for unitary effect, with over 800 unitary patent applications in 2024, after Germany and the US.
It is also interesting to note that over 35% of applicants are SMEs and individuals, demonstrating the benefits of this simplification for these categories of applicants.
After this successful first year, we can only hope that the number of European Union countries participating in the unitary patent will rapidly increase.
