On 22 May 2024 amendments to the Latvian Patent Law entered into force. The amendments also specify the following changes:

1. Disputes concerning a European patent with unitary effect shall henceforth be heard as a court of first instance by the Regional Division of the Unified Patent Court for the Nordic-Baltic States established under the agreement on the establishment of a Regional Division of the Unified Patent Court for the Nordic-Baltic States or by the Central Division of the Unified Patent Court. However, an action for infringement or revocation of a European patent or an action for infringement or revocation of a supplementary protection certificate granted in respect of a product protected by a European patent may be brought before a court in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Civil Procedure Act in accordance with Article 83 of the Agreement establishing the Unified Patent Court until 31 May 2030.

2. The particulars to be published in the official publication of the Patent Office and in the Register of Patents concerning the inventor and his representative have been clarified.

3. In the case of the grant, registration and publication of a patent, the notice of the grant of the patent and the particulars of the patent shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Patent Office and entered in the Register of Patents.

4. The maintenance fee shall be payable by the last day of the month in the current year in which the filing date falls, irrespective of whether the last day for payment falls on a Saturday, Sunday or statutory public holiday, but not earlier than six months before the filing date in question.

5. In cases where the unitary effect of a European patent may be refused or revoked, these amendments will allow the patent proprietor to benefit from a three-month period in order to still be able to validate the European patent at national level.