On 18 January 2022, Austria deposited its instrument of ratification of the Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC) on provisional application (PPA). The Protocol entered into force today, 19 January 2022.
This is the final phase for setting up the UPC, and includes actions such as legal and organisational establishment of the court, setting its budget, stress testing its IT systems, and finalisation of recruitment of the judges. The UPC Preparatory Committee deems that this provisional phase period will last at least eight months.
When the preparatory work has progressed sufficiently and the participating member states are confident that the UPC can start, the last outstanding instrument of ratification of the UPC Agreement (UPCA) will be deposited by Germany. The UPCA would then enter into force on the first day of the fourth month following the deposit.
The European Patent Office (EPO) has also issued guidance concerning possibilities for users to request a delay to grant of their European patents until the UPC comes into force, as well as early requests for Unitary Patents.
The UPC Preparatory Committee announcement can be viewed here
The EPO guidance on early uptake of the Unitary Patent can be viewed here
