Last November 13, the committee selected by the EPO to review this situation finally amended Rule 5(2) of the Unitary Patent Regulation (UPR) to exclude from unitary protection European patents granted to holders subject to the sanctions, i.e., i) Russian nationals; ii) natural persons resident in Russia; iii) legal persons established in Russia; or iv) applications filed jointly with non-Russian natural or legal persons established outside Russia. However, it contains an exception concerning nationals or residents of EU states, EEA countries or Switzerland.
Until now, said Article 5(2) established that unitary effect was only registered when the European patent had been granted with the same set of claims for all participating Member States.
The new regulation will apply to all applications for unitary effect pending as of November 15, those suspended as of July 10, and all those filed thereafter. Applications that are denied will be informed to the proprietor, providing an opportunity to comment or invoke exceptions.
