The European patent with unitary effect (more commonly known as the unitary patent) is being welcomed by leading European patent applicants. According to a recently published study, the vast majority of those responsible for patents in companies headquartered in Europe are in favour of the introduction of the European patent.
Only a minority are critical that future judges at the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will be insufficiently qualified or hampered by the complexity of the international organisation of the UPC. An expected benefit of the unitary patent will be the ability to cost-effectively protect 'crown jewel' patents in a market that is nearly twice as large as the United States of America.