When the deadline for appeal has started: what it costs to be wrong
Once a decision is served, the appeal clock starts regardless of whether you noticed. Misjudging the start date does not pause it. A patent holder who appeals one day late loses the right to appeal at all, and the underlying decision becomes final. There is no discretion to revive a missed deadline because the reading was wrong.
The basis
For a patent with unitary effect, the appeal sits inside a single framework. The Agreement on a Unified Patent Court sets the appeal procedure itself. The right being appealed exists under Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012, which created unitary patent protection. The language in which the order was issued follows Council Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012, on the applicable translation arrangements.
None of these three sets a single fixed calendar date for every case. Each ties the deadline to the date a decision or order is served on the party, not to the date it was issued, signed, or read aloud at a hearing.
What changes
Service, not the hearing, is the trigger. A party who treats the hearing date as day one, or who waits for a courtesy copy from opposing counsel, can lose days without noticing. Because the period runs from service, a miscount is not corrected later by explaining why the count was wrong.
Once the window closes, the underlying order becomes enforceable as it stands. An injunction stays in force, a revocation stands, a cost order becomes payable. The other side's position becomes settled, and reopening it afterwards costs far more than filing on time would have cost.
Which clock applies
| Setting | What starts the clock | Who hears the appeal |
|---|---|---|
| Unitary patent litigation | Service of the order under the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court | Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court |
| National first-instance patent case outside the unitary system | That court's own service rules | That court's own appellate body |
| Customs seizure of infringing goods | A separate procedure under Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 | Not the Unified Patent Court |
What to do
- Locate the certificate of service, not the hearing transcript, and mark that date as day one — the case handler, not counsel's assistant, should confirm it.
- Calendar the deadline independently of counsel's own file, counting from the confirmed service date rather than the date the order was drafted.
- Check which language version was served, since the translation arrangements affect which text is treated as the served version.
- If the service date is unclear, ask the registry in writing for it, before the assumed period runs out rather than after.
- File a protective notice of appeal at the earliest confirmed reading of the deadline, and refine the grounds afterwards where the rules allow it.
- Keep the service certificate, the registry correspondence, and the filing confirmation together in one file, so the calculation can be checked later.
Who decides
Under the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, the appeal is heard by the Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court. The same panel also decides whether the deadline was met, on the service record in the case file — not on a party's recollection of when the decision arrived.
Where this forks
If standing to appeal is itself uncertain — for instance, an assignment of the patent was carried out but never formally signed — that question is resolved before the deadline calculation matters at all. When the assignment is unsigned but performed explained sets out how that is decided.
If part of the right is recorded through a tokenised licence or register entry rather than solely through the patent register, the same principle applies to that separate record: the clock starts on service, not on discovery. When a fork duplicates the token and its limits covers that mechanism.
If the decision came from a national court outside the unitary system, the deadline follows that court's own procedural rules, not the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court.
What this page does not resolve
This page does not calculate the specific number of days for your case, and it does not cover deadlines under separate regimes, such as customs seizure of infringing goods, which run under Regulation (EU) No 608/2013 rather than the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court.
Before committing resources to an appeal, some clients first check who stands on the other side of the case — ownership, prior disputes, financial standing. That check follows a different track; see Counterparty report before renewing a contract step by step.
Related situations
When a related ruling already exists in another jurisdiction, the sequence of decisions can itself be disputed before the deadline question is reached. When a court in another country decides first: what sets out how that changes the count.
Verified
Checked against the sources below on 3 March 2025. First sources: Agreement on a Unified Patent Court; Regulation (EU) No 1257/2012; Council Regulation (EU) No 1260/2012; Regulation (EU) No 608/2013, cited only for the boundary above. How we retain the service certificate and correspondence in your own file is explained in Retention: the report, the extracts and our copy explained.
FAQ
What is the first step when the deadline for appeal has started?
Locate the certificate of service and treat that date, not the hearing date, as day one. Calendar it independently of counsel's own file.
Which deadline is already running?
The one tied to service of the decision. It runs from the date the order reached the party or its representative, under the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, regardless of when the hearing took place.
Who decides, and on what evidence?
The Court of Appeal of the Unified Patent Court decides, on the service record in the case file. A party's own recollection of when it received the decision does not override that record.