Part IX – Special agreements
Article 142172
Unitary patents
(1) Any group of Contracting States, which has provided by a special agreement that a European patent granted for those States has a unitary character throughout their territories, may provide that a European patent may only be granted jointly in respect of all those States.
(2) Where any group of Contracting States has availed itself of the authorisation given in paragraph 1, the provisions of this Part shall apply.
172The group of EU member states participating in enhanced co-operation in the area of the creation of unitary patent protection implemented that co-operation by Regulation (EU) No. 1257/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation No. 1260/2012 (OJ EPO 2013, 110, 111 and 132), thereby availing itself of the authorisation given in Article 142(1) and the provisions of Part IX of the EPC. The third component of the EU "patent package" is the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (OJ EPO 2013, 286, 287).