The Unified Patent Court gives companies a new form of enforcement leverage across Europe. A single action can potentially reach several important markets, but the same centralized system can also expose a patent to revocation across those territories and create substantial cost consequences. For companies, the decision to use the UPC is therefore not only a litigation choice. It is also a question of commercial risk management.

On Wednesday, 21 October 2026, at 12:00 PM CEST, Dr. Tobias Wuttke, Partner at BARDEHLE PAGENBERG, will join Prof. Dr. Alexander J. Wurzer for a live CEIPI IP Business Talk on UPC as Part of Corporate Risk Management. The conversation will explore how companies can assess the economics of UPC litigation, structure patent portfolios, interpret emerging court statistics and incorporate UPC exposure into broader risk-management decisions.

👉 Join the live conversation on LinkedIn.

Assessing the commercial case for UPC litigation

The first theme concerns the economic balance between enforcement leverage and litigation exposure. The UPC can offer broad territorial reach and powerful remedies, but an action may also put the asserted patent at risk of central revocation and create significant cost consequences if the case is lost.

Consider a company facing infringement in several European markets. Centralized proceedings may appear more efficient than parallel national actions, especially where a commercially important injunction could affect a large part of the market. At the same time, the company needs to ask what the patent is worth to the business, how strong it is under validity scrutiny and what an adverse decision would mean for the wider competitive position. The discussion will examine how companies can connect legal prospects with the expected commercial upside, litigation cost and downside exposure before deciding whether UPC litigation makes economic sense.

Designing portfolios for enforcement and resilience

The second theme looks at portfolio architecture. The UPC adds another strategic layer alongside European bundle patents, Unitary Patents and national rights. This gives companies more options, but also requires them to think carefully about how individual rights contribute to enforcement power and risk diversification.

A company may, for example, want centralized enforcement for patents covering a key product platform while retaining greater jurisdictional flexibility for other strategically important rights. The relevant question is not simply which filing route is available, but how the overall portfolio should behave if one important patent is attacked. The talk will explore how companies can benefit from centralized enforcement without creating excessive dependence on a single right or a single invalidity decision.

Using UPC statistics without overreading them

The third theme examines the growing body of UPC data. Statistics on success rates, revocation rates, costs and the distribution of cases between divisions can help companies understand how the system is developing. They can also create a false sense of certainty if headline numbers are treated as direct predictions for an individual case.

A litigation decision depends on more than an average success rate. The technology, the specific patent, the procedural posture, the strength of the invalidity case, the selected division, the commercial objective and the opponent’s position can all change the risk profile. The conversation will consider which UPC statistics can genuinely support management decisions, how they should be interpreted and which case-specific factors need to sit alongside the numbers.

Bringing UPC exposure into patent risk management

The fourth theme connects the UPC with corporate risk management before a dispute becomes urgent. Fast proceedings, potentially broad injunctions, enforcement exposure and a loser-pays cost system can create consequences that extend beyond the legal department.

A company launching a new product in several UPC markets may need to consider not only its own enforcement options, but also the possibility of being sued. That can affect freedom-to-operate work, product design, launch timing, reserves, settlement strategy and internal escalation processes. This suggests a broader management question: which UPC-related risks should be identified in advance, who should own them inside the organization and what information should trigger a closer review? The talk will examine how companies can incorporate these questions into patent risk management before litigation becomes an immediate operational problem.

Connecting UPC decisions with European IP management

These questions connect directly with our Industry Focus on the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court. The UPC is changing the relationship between portfolio design, enforcement leverage, cost structures, competitive positioning and long-term strategic flexibility. Decisions that were once largely national and procedural are becoming more interconnected across markets and over time.

The upcoming talk offers IP managers, business leaders, in-house counsel and advisers an opportunity to examine the UPC not simply as a new litigation forum, but as part of an integrated approach to European patent strategy and corporate risk management.

👉 Explore our Industry Focus on the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

Dr. Tobias Wuttke

Dr. Tobias Wuttke is a Partner at BARDEHLE PAGENBERG, an Attorney-at-Law, Certified IP Lawyer and UPC Representative. He specializes in national and cross-border patent litigation and has experience from hundreds of patent infringement and validity proceedings. His work covers industries including telecommunications, medical technology, automotive and life sciences. A central feature of his practice is the economic perspective on patent disputes. He focuses on the commercial outcome of litigation and regards patent litigation as closely connected with risk management. Tobias also lectures on the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court and regularly speaks and publishes on patent-law issues.

👉 Read Tobias Wuttke’s profile at BARDEHLE PAGENBERG.

Join Dr. Tobias Wuttke and Prof. Dr. Alexander J. Wurzer on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, at 12:00 PM CEST for this live CEIPI IP Business Talk on UPC as Part of Corporate Risk Management.

👉 View the event details and join the conversation on LinkedIn.