European unitary patent ‘certain’ to launch in June

German move finalises multinational protection for intellectual property after years of delay

A single patent that would protect intellectual property across many EU countries is finally set to launch on 1 June, after years of delays.

German ratification on 17 February of the agreement to set up a Unified Patent Court to handle disputes over the unitary patent prompted the European Patent Office to tweet: “The unitary patent system will certainly start on 1 June.”