http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-unified-patent-court-do-we-finally.html
After the Order of the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) dated 23 June 2021 (see here the IPKat post) it is now clarified that Germany is able to participate in the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) and the Protocol on the Provisional Application of the UPCA (the PAP-Protocol).
In the process of full entry into force of the UPCA, there are some steps that need to be followed. The first step is Germany’s ratification of the PAP-Protocol. The German Federal President has already signed the ratification bill on 7 August 2021, promulgated on 12 August 2021. Although the German ratification has been of key importance for unlocking the process, it is not enough.
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Nordic-Baltic Regional Division, in Stockholm, Sweden
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The consent of two more Member States is required in order for the Protocol to enter into force and thus also put into effect the start of the provisional application period- the PAP. These are expected to occur during autumn 2021.
With the entrance into force of the PAP, the legal capacity of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will be established. The governing bodies of the Court will be assembled and all necessary secondary legislation will be adopted. Of central importance in this process is the final recruitment of the judges of the Court.
According to the Preparatory Committee, the period that will be needed in order to complete all these steps is eight months.
When this phase of preparatory work has come to a satisfactory stage, the last outstanding instrument of ratification of the UPCA itself will be deposited by Germany. The UPCA will then enter into force on the first day of the fourth month following the deposit of this instrument. Once the UPCA enters into force, the UPC will start its work and be available to the users of the European patent system.
According to the current timeline of the Preparatory Committee, the UPC will be fully operational by mid-2022.
For those of us who have followed the history of the Unitary Patent Package, and experienced the unexpected turns the system has taken revising the expected date of its entry into force a number of times, mid-2022 sounds just too optimistic.
But then again, why be pessimistic? Time will tell.
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