PATENT | UPC gets exclusive jurisdiction over non-opted European patents

On 12 November 2025, the Court of Venice issued its decision in case RG 10432/2024, brought by Geoplast S.p.a. against Daliform Group S.r.l. and T.P.S. S.r.l., addressing the allocation of jurisdiction between national courts and the Unified Patent Court (the UPC) during the transition period in relation to European Patent for which no opt-out has been filed by the patent holder.

The Court held that, during the transition period, jurisdiction over infringement actions relating to non-opted out European patents does not operate as a genuinely concurrent system allowing patent proprietors to freely choose between national courts and the UPC. According to the Court, Article 32 of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (the UPCA) confers exclusive jurisdiction on the UPC for such actions, even during the transition period, in relation to non-opted out European patents.

In this framework, national courts would retain jurisdiction only where the patent proprietor has formally exercised the opt-out, duly recorded in the UPC Register, pursuant to Article 83 UPCA. Absent such opt-out, UPC jurisdiction applies as the default rule.

The decision adopts a strict reading of the UPCA aimed at ensuring legal certainty and predictability, which will influence future discussions on forum selection during the transition period.

Newsletter n. 115 – February 2026