Unified Patent Court timetable delayed
The Unified Patent Court (UPC) – a supranational court that will cover all participating European Member States in a single action – had been expected to enter into force in December 2017. However, the Preparatory Committee of the UPC recently confirmed that the timetable set out in March for the start of the Provisional Application Phase and for the entry into force of the UPC Agreement has been delayed. As such, the UPC will not come into effect in 2017, as previously estimated.
As mentioned in our previous update, the Agreement is currently awaiting ratification by both the UK and Germany before entry into force. Both ratifications had been expected in Spring 2017, however both remain pending at the time of writing. German ratification has been held up following a constitutional complaint, and whilst the UK is moving forward with its ratification process, it remains to be seen if and when UK ratification will take place in the midst of disruptions arising from the recent UK elections and Brexit negotiations.
We will provide further updates in due course.
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