News & Resources

02.02.22

Another step towards the Unified Patent Court

Progress towards the Unified Patent Court (UPC) in Europe took a large step forward recently when Austria ratified the Protocol on Provisional Application, causing it to enter into force. This event marks the start of the Provisional Application Period (PAP) so that the preparatory phase for the new court can begin.

The PAP is expected to last at least eight months. When the court is functional, Germany will deposit its instrument of ratification of the UPC Agreement, which will set the date for the start of the UPC’s operations three months later. Both the UPC and the corresponding European unitary patent (UP) could therefore become operational towards the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023.

At MSK, we welcome this significant development. We look forward to obtaining UPs for our clients and to representing them in the new court.

If you have any questions on the UPC or the UP system, please contact Andy Cloughley.

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