< Back to latest news & events

UPC

No Official Fee to Opt Out of the UPC

February 2016

The Preparatory Committee for the UPC has agreed the Rules on Court fees and recoverable costs for the UPC. The biggest change, and welcome news for proprietors of existing EP patents and applications is that no fee will be payable in order to opt out of the jurisdiction of the UPC. Many have lobbied that this should have always been the case, and will welcome this news.

The Preparatory Committee had made a commitment that the fees for both the opt-out and its withdrawal would be set to reclaim administrative costs only and that the UPC would not profit from either of these. Recognising that the administration burden of opting out rests almost entirely with the applicant and also that any cost to the Court associated with the opt-out is related to processing the fee, the fee has been removed in the final agreed version of the UPC fees here.

Court fees have also now been set, with the maximum ceiling for recoverable costs for proceedings with values of more than €50 million being capped at €2 million. The provisions for seeking reductions have been set at reimbursement, wholly or partially, of and fixed and value-based fee. Interesting the “test” for who can apply for a reimbursement remains the same; it has been speculated that non-practising entities could benefit from this arrangement.

This update was prepared by Martyn Fish, Partner in our Leeds office. If you would like further advice on this or any other matter please contact Martyn or your usual HGF representative or visit our Contact page to get in touch with your nearest HGF office.

Latest updates

Exam Success!

HGF are delighted to announce success for many of our colleagues in the recent exams on becoming qualified attorneys and would like to congratulate them on this fantastic achievement. Martyn …

Read article

In2ScienceUK continues to promote diversity and inclusion in STEM and IP with its award winning programme

HGF are proud sponsors of In2ScienceUK, a charity that gives young people from low-income backgrounds the opportunity to gain essential insights into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers with …

Read article

Spotting innovation in digital health – and can you patent it?

Intellectual Property (IP) can add significant value to your business, providing a competitive edge over the market, as well as demonstrating sound business planning to help secure investment. There are …

Read article

Innovation at the heart of UK medtech strategy

The UK Department of Health and Social Care has recently published the government’s first ever medical technology strategy in an effort to accelerate access to innovative technologies. The strategy document …

Read article

How medtech start-ups can supercharge their IP for fundraising

Why is IP important for fundraising? Intellectual property (IP) rights underpin the value of most medtech start-up companies. IP rights include patents, design rights, trade marks, copyright and trade secrets …

Read article

What is EUDAMED and how will it affect your IP strategy?

The “European database on medical devices”, or “EUDAMED”, is the EU’s IT system created by the new Medical Devices Regulation (MDR) and In Vitro Diagnostics Medical Devices Regulation (IVDR). When …

Read article