What is a Unitary Patent?

A European patent with unitary effect – or "Unitary Patent" – is a European patent, granted by the EPO under the rules and procedures of the European Patent Convention (EPC), to which, at the patent proprietor's request, unitary effect is given for the territory of the EU Member States participating in the Unitary Patent system that have ratified the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court. A Unitary Patent will therefore cover the territory of the following 17 EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden.  (See also "What is the territorial scope of a Unitary Patent?" 

A Unitary Patent gives inventors uniform and territorially broad protection in the participating EU Member States. Uniform protection means that the rights conferred by a Unitary Patent and their limitations are the same for all the participating states, as are the available legal remedies.