Our partners and attorneys are highly qualified and highly experienced to advise you in all areas of Intellectual Property law. We advise start-ups, SMEs, and multinational corporations and ensure that your inventions, brands and designs are expertly protected.
All of the Partners & People of AA Thornton are joining forces with Venner Shipley
AA Thornton IP LLP combines the vast experience of its highly rated patent attorneys with a high-performing IP litigation team, and is helping clients navigate the new options provided by the Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent. A basic introduction is provided below.
We welcome UPC and UP enquiries via email to upc@aathornton.com or via your usual AA Thornton contacts.
AA Thornton IP LLP was ranked by Legal500 as a “Tier 2” patent firm in 2025. The patent attorney teams are led by Adrian Bennett, Mike Jennings and Craig Turner. Our IP litigation team is led by Geoff Hussey and Daniel Byrne.
Legal500 testimonials:
“The availability of the team at a client’s request regardless where the team members were and in which time zones. Professionalism in dealing with client requests. A wide range of expertise in this particular area.”
“The AA Thornton team boast exceptional technical and legal expertise. Their assistance and advice has been key in the development and progression of our patent portfolio. Our portfolio covers a large and diverse range of territories and the firm’s ability to provide advice relating to prosecution and protection in these different territories has been key to our portfolio’s success.”
“AA Thornton is a firm with highly developed expertise in all areas of intellectual property. The firm is also able to provide very practical solutions and adapt to its clients’ needs.”
You can view our guide below or by clicking here to launch a new tab.
AA_Thornton_UPC_brochure_17_Feb_2022Europe’s Unified Patent Court and Unitary Patent system has begun operation
As has been widely reported, significant changes to Europe’s patent system have taken place, with a new specialist patent court system (the Unified Patent Court or UPC) and a new option for unitary patent protection covering many of the states of the European Union.
The UPC has become available to handle patent infringement and revocation actions from 1 June 2023.
The milestones leading up to this landmark event are outlined HERE
Recommendations
Although the UPC has now begun operating, and will have jurisdiction over existing European patents that have not been “opted out” of the UPC, it is still possible to take action to opt out such patents as long as they are not already the subject of proceedings in the new court. We recommend that all owners of unexpired European patents (or their patent portfolio managers) take the following actions if they have not already done so.
Going forward, applicants of European patent applications that have been approved for grant by the EPO should consider whether to opt out such applications, before they proceed to grant.
Please contact AA Thornton’s team of European Patent Attorneys and IP litigation experts if you have any questions regarding:
We will be happy to discuss which options are worth considering for your business.
We will continue monitoring legal developments and we will update our website when there are significant UPC and UP updates as the new system begins its operation.
AA Thornton IP LLP – 1 June 2023
The unitary patent came into effect on 1 June 2023, at the same time as the entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court. Applicants can now obtain a UP via a conventional European patent application filed at the European Patent Office (EPO). This is done at the grant stage, where applicants now have the option of requesting that their patent becomes a ‘European patent with unitary effect’ covering certain EU states which are participating in the UP system, in addition to the bundle of national patents which is obtained when validating a conventional European patent.
The European Union has worked for several years on the establishment of a common patent court which has been created on the basis of an international treaty. The UPC Agreement entered into force on 1 June 2023.
As of September 2024, 18 EU states have ratified the UPC Agreement and are participating in the new court system and further countries are expected to join in due course.
