The unitary patent - or "European patent with unitary effect" - is a European patent, granted by the EPO under the rules and procedures of the European Patent Convention, to which, upon request of the patent proprietor, unitary effect is given for the territory of the 25 Member States participating in the unitary patent scheme. The unitary patent will co-exist with national patents and with classical European patents. Patent proprietors will in future be able to choose between various combinations of classical European patents and unitary patents, for example: -a unitary patent for the 25 Member States of the European Union which participate in the unitary patent scheme; together with -a classical European patent taking effect in one or more EPC Contracting States which do not participate in the scheme, such as Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Norway, Iceland, etc.
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