The European Parliament adopted on 28 February 2024 in first reading its position about Unitary supplementary certificates (SPCs) for medicinal products and pesticides. The final phase of negotiations with the European Council, representing member states, should occur after the June elections, according to the Parliament. The Unitary SPC should add 5 years to the protection conferred by the original patent, complementing the Unitary patent system.
Protection would cover all countries part of the European patent system. Applications for the unitary SPCs should be submitted at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), to be examined by one EUIPO member and two examiners from national patent offices with sufficient expertise and experience. For medicinal products, the entire procedure should be electronic, and based on the centralised regulatory procedures already in place to obtain the marketing authorisation for innovative medicines.