Romania Joins the UPCA
Romania will become a new member of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) as of 1 September 2024. Romania officially deposited its instrument of ratification of the UPCA on 31 May 2024. According to the Unified Patent Court’s website, from 1 September 2024, Romania will be the 18th contracting state and the first to join the UPC since its opening on 1 June 2023.
Unitary patents registered on or after 1 September 2024 will include coverage for 18 states, including Romania. Unitary patents registered before this date will not cover Romania. Additionally, national validations in Romania will fall under the jurisdiction of the UPC unless the European patent is opted out.
Applicants with a European patent application at the allowance/grant stage who wish to elect for a unitary patent may consider delaying the registration of unitary effect to include Romania. The EPO has issued a notice on 5 June 2024 indicating that requests for a delay in the registration of unitary effect will now be accepted until the UPCA takes effect in Romania.
For more information on the UPCA and Unitary patents visit our website here. If you have any questions, we would be happy to help. Our team has 17 European Patent Litigators registered to represent clients before the UPC. Feel free to reach out to our European Patent Litigators via email on info@dcp-ip.com.