Unitary patent protection, unified patent court, supplementary protection certificate and Brexit

New development in terms of Unitary Patent Protection (UPP) system in Europe is anticipated by the end of the year 2017. This article reviews the advantage of UPP over European Patent system (EPS). In addition, the upcoming Unified Patent Court (UPC) system allows parties to litigate in a single forum which would be time saving and cost effective. In this article we have tried to briefly summarize the structure of UPC. There are certain areas like Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPCs) relating to pharmaceutical products which may be significantly impacted by UPP and UPC. We have tried to weigh the implications of the new system on SPC and also provide some possible solutions. Lastly, Britain’s exit from European Union, popularly referred to as Brexit, may pose some challenges to the UPC and UPP and might adversely affect the fundamental purpose of a single patent system in Europe.