The Unified Patent Court (UPC) and the Unitary Patent
Navigating the new European patent system
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15 Jan 2026
Insight
Welcome to our latest UPC briefing, in which we look back at developments in the last six months since our last update (The UPC Two Years On – published July 2025) and consider what this increasingly well-established jurisdiction may offer us in 2026.
In this briefing, we:
- look at some of the key issues which may be resolved by the UPC Court of Appeal in 2026 before considering what will be new in the UPC system in 2026
- review the success of the unitary patent and set out some statistics on the UPC's first two and a half years in operation
- shine a spotlight on SEP and FRAND issues
- provide detailed updates on specific developments across UPC topics, including on:
- jurisdiction (including BSH's impact on long-arm jurisdiction of the UPC, national proceedings and res judicata, determination of "same parties" and "straw" people)
- validity (including inventive step, added matter, sufficiency and standing to sue in revocation actions)
- claim interpretation & infringement (including file wrapper issues, doctrine of equivalents and imminent infringement)
- injunctions (preliminary injunctions and unreasonable delay, and carve-outs from final injunctions)
- liability of directors
- saisie orders
- stays pending EPO opposition
- other practice and legal points decided by the UPC from July 2025 to December 2026
The final pages of the briefing also provide an overview of the issues relating to UPs and UPC litigation which are worth keeping in mind in IP transactions.
In our last briefing (The UPC Two Years On, mentioned above), as well as the topics we look at in this edition, we also reviewed the UPC's approach to the criteria for PIs, jurisdiction and opt-out, jurisdiction over pre-UPC infringement and damages and the applicable law, stays and suspensive effect more broadly, access to pleadings, security and more, much of which is now well established, but do look back at that briefing and our earlier ones linked within it, if you need a reminder.
If you would like to discuss the UPC in further detail, please contact any member of our team below.
For background on the structure and function of the UPC, as well as our latest UPC news blog posts, see the HSF Kramer UPC and unitary patent hub.
Key contacts
Sebastian Moore
Partner, Head Intellectual Property, London and Milan
Laura Orlando
Managing Partner, Milan Office, Milan
Pietro Pouché
Partner, Milan
Florian Schmidt-Bogatzky
Partner, Germany
Dr Ina vom Feld
Partner, Germany
Rachel Montagnon
Knowledge Counsel, London
Legal Notice
The contents of this publication are for reference purposes only and may not be current as at the date of accessing this publication. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action based on this publication.
© Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer 2026
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