Patenting in Europe is currently a fragmented and a complex process, both in application and in enforcement. This has wide implications for firms looking to protect their patents within Europe, often leading to greater costs compared to other patenting regimes. The aim of the establishment of the Unified Patent Court and the Unitary Patent is to offer a more streamlined and easy to use system with the ambition of unifying the European patent system as much as possible. While it is known that businesses and the legal community have various concerns about the proposed changes, the evidence base is limited. Recognising this, the IPO commissioned this empirical study examining the perspectives of the business and legal communities with regards to the Unified Patent Court and the Unitary Patent. The aim of this report is to outline and explore the most important issues for the stakeholders who will potentially use the court.