Many in-house legal teams are still unclear about how they will be affected by next year's overhaul of the European patents system.

Research from Legal Week Intelligence in association with Powell Gilbert found that more than one in three lawyers involved in commissioning or carrying out IP work don't know enough about the introduction of the European Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court to say how it will change IP litigation.

The new structure, which is due to be introduced in spring 2014, will involve the creation of unitary European patents, enforceable across all 28 EU states. The proposed Unified Patent Court would hear infringement cases from across all member states.

More than half of respondents to the survey, three quarters of whom work in-house and a quarter in private practice, said they didn't know if the changes would  have an impact on the cost of obtaining patents. Some 19% thought costs would increase, with 16% saying they would be lower.

"The aim of the new system is to deliver a more effective and cheaper patent, and one that can be litigated across Europe," said Penny Gilbert, a partner at Powell Gilbert (pictured). "But one of the big unknowns now is what the costs of the system will be."

Most of those surveyed welcomed the new system, with 58% rating it as a 'good idea' and only 3% saying it was a 'bad idea'. However, of these positive responses, more than half said they were not sure the system would work well in practice.

Among the other findings from the wide-ranging survey was that IP lawyers view China as causing the most concern when it came to the protection of IP rights, with 58% naming the country as providing the biggest challenge. Europe trailed in second with 17%, while 12% said India provided the greatest challenge.