Around 350 cases have so far been initiated before the Unified Patent Court (UPC), which enables centralised litigation not only for unitary patents, for which UPC has exclusive competence, but also for non-unitary European patents, under certain conditions.

Romania is set to soon become the 18th EU member state participating in the unitary patent system — while Ireland’s entry is up in the air following the government’s decision to indefinitely postpone a necessary constitutional amendment.

Thierry Breton, European commissioner for the internal market, said: “Patents are essential for European innovation and competitiveness.

“The new unitary patent system provides a one-stop shop for the registration of patents in Europe, making patent protection stronger, simpler and less expensive — to the benefit of all companies, in particular SMEs.

“More than 27.000 patents have been registered after only one year, covering 17 member states. I encourage the remaining member states to join the unitary patent soon.”