Unitary Patent Snapshot – In Figures
A European Unitary Patent Snapshot
Over two years since the new Unitary Patent (UP) and Unified Patent Court (UPC) regime was introduced, we were interested to see how the regime is being used and by whom.
The European Patent Office (EPO) has published a number of key statistics, which relate to requests for unitary effect from 2023-Oct 2025.
Key Points To Note
From the EPO’s statistics, it is possible to note the following key points:
1) English is the most commonly used language for proceedings
© EPO, 2025
English: 52,771 (75.0%)
German: 15,297 (19.4%)
French: 3,923 (5.6%)
2) Uptake has been highest in European states vs the rest of the world
© EPO, 2025
EU states: 34.0%
EPO states: 33.4%
Global: 23.4%
3) Proprietors come mainly from Europe
© EPO, 2025
4) The type of applicants in Europe who have filed the most requests are large companies
© EPO, 2025
5) The top 5 technology fields in which requests were made were 1) Medtech, 2) Measurement, 3) Digital communication, 4) Computer Technology and 5) Transport.
© EPO, 2025
6) Top 25 Proprietors
The top 25 global proprietors who have made requests for unitary effect are:
© EPO, 2025
Contact Our UP & UPC Team
Please contact a member of our UP & UPC team if we can help you with any related matter.
Stewart Cameron, Director, UPC Representative, European & UK Patent Attorney
T. +44 (0)208 390 3775 (London)
E. stewart@cameronintellectualproperty.com
Stuart Forrest, Director, UPC Representative, European & UK Patent Attorney
T. +44 (0)208 390 3775 (London)
E. stuart.f@cameronintellectualproperty.com
Steven McIlroy, Director, UPC Representative, European & UK Patent Attorney
T. +44 (0)208 390 3775 (London)
E. steven@cameronintellectualproperty.com
Louise Carr, Senior Patent Attorney, UPC Representative, European & UK Patent Attorney
T. +44 (0)208 390 3775 (London)
E. louise@cameronintellectualproperty.com
Categories: Patents