IP lawyers disappointed as government confirms the UK will not be involved in European patent court

The UK will not be a member of Europe’s planned Unified Patent Court, the government has confirmed in what intellectual property (IP) specialists have described as a blow to the industry.

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) had hoped that the UK could participate despite Brexit because the court will not be an EU institution. However, the government has decided that the proposed appeals framework for the new court, which would involve referrals to the European Court of Justice, is incompatible with its determination for the UK to not be bound by European jurisdiction.

Graham Burnett-Hall, partner at specialist IP firm Marks & Clerk, told the Law Gazette: “This is certainly a blow for industry as it was felt the [Unified Patent Court] would be an excellent forum to resolve patent disputes with a single set of legal proceedings in one court, with one judgment and one appeal process.”

The UK’s decision is also damaging to the new IP institution. Burnett-Hall said: “It will be very interesting to see what happens in the European Union and whether the unitary patent and UPC project will continue to go ahead without the UK - but even if it does it will almost certainly now be less appealing for businesses.”