S T A T U T O R Y  I N S T R U M E N T S  
2016 No. 517 
PATENTS 
The Patents (Amendment) Rules 2016 
Made  - - - - 20th April 2016 
Laid before Parliament  22nd April 2016 
Coming into force in accordance with rule 1(2) 
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers c onferred by section 123 of the Patents Act 
1977( a), makes the following Rules. 
Citation and Commencement 
1. —(1) These Rules may be cited as the Patents (Amend ment) Rules 2016. 
(2)  These Rules come into force on the date of entry in to force of the Agreement on a Unified 
Patent Court( b). 
Amendments to the Patents Rules 2007 
2. —(1) The Patents Rules 2007( c) are amended as follows. 
(2)  In rule 44(5), after “section 74A,” insert “other t han in relation to a European patent with 
unitary effect,”. 
(3)  In rule 95(1), in sub-paragraph (b), at the end, in sert “or, in the case of a European patent 
with unitary effect, in the Register for unitary pa tent protection kept under the Unitary Patent 
Regulation( d).”. 
 
 
 
 
 Neville-Rolfe  
 Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Ministe r for Intellectual Property 
20th April 2016 Department for Business, Innovation  and Skills 
 
 
                                                                                                                                            
(a) 1977 c.37. 
(b) Cm 8653. Section 130(1) of the Patents Act 1977 ( c.37), as amended by S.I. 2016/388, defines “Agreem ent on a Unified 
Patent Court”. The date on which the Agreement ente rs into force for the United Kingdom may be found o n the relevant 
page on UK Treaties Online at this link: http://tre aties.fco.gov.uk/treaties/treatyrecord.htm?tid=1465 1. 
(c) S.I. 2007/3291, amended by S.I. 2014/2401; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant . 
(d) OJ No L 361, 31.12.2012, p1. Section 130(1) of th e Patents Act 1977 (c.37), as amended by S.I. 2016/ 388, defines “Unitary 
Patent Regulation”.  2£4.25 
UK2016042019   04/2016   19585 
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2016/517 EXPLANATORY NOTE 
(This note is not part of the Rules) 
These Rules amend the Patents Rules 2007 to make ch anges consequential to the amendments 
made to the Patents Act 1977 (“the Act”) by the Pat ents (European Patent with Unitary Effect and 
Unified Patent Court) Order 2016 (S.I. 2016/388) (“ the Order”). 
Rule 2(2) amends Rule 44(5) to make clear that info rmation in relation to a request for an opinion 
under section 74A of the Act will not be entered in  the register of patents maintained under section 
32 of the Act. This is because the European patent with unitary effect will not be registered by the 
comptroller but by the European Patent Office in th e Register for unitary patent protection kept 
under the Unitary Patent Regulation. 
Rule 2(3) amends Rule 95(1)(b) to require the compt roller to notify any holder of a licence or sub-
licence under a European patent with unitary effect  registered in the Register for unitary patent 
protection of a request for an opinion under sectio n 74A of the Act 1977 in relation to the 
European patent. 
An impact assessment has not been produced for this  instrument as no impact on the private or 
voluntary sectors is foreseen. The impact assessmen t prepared for the Order deals with the impact 
of extending the opinions service to European paten ts with unitary effect. This impact assessment 
is available on the Legislation UK website at www.l egislation.gov.uk. 
  
  
© Crown copyright 2016 
Printed and published in the UK by The Stationery O ffice Limited under the authority and superintenden ce of Carol Tullo, 
Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office and Q ueen’s Printer of Acts of Parliament. 
