A major adjustment within the framework of the new Unitary patent is the reorganisation of the double protection prohibition. Since 1 June 2023, it has been possible to own a national German patent in addition to a classic European patent or a Unitary Patent. With regard to the prohibition of double protection, this change means that a national German patent will only lose its effect if the parallel European patent has been withdrawn from the exclusive jurisdiction of the Unified Patent Court (via opt-out).

Double protection is therefore possible if no opt-out has been declared. In this case, the national German patent is fully effective alongside the classic European patent.

Consequently, double protection means that a patent infringer can be sued both before a national court and before the Unified Patent Court. However, the sued infringer can then raise the defence of double claiming and thus avoid a double judicial claim from a national patent before a national court and from a European patent or from a unitary patent before the Unified Patent Court.

Source: KRS 06/23, p. 224ff

June 10, 2024
Vanessa Bockhorni
Patent Attorney