The UK government issued a press release on 28 November 2016 announcing its intention to proceed with its preparations to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA). This is an important step in preventing significant delay to the opening of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and creation of the European Unified Patent (EUP).
Before the vote in the UK on 23 June 2016 to leave the EU, the predicted start of the UPC and EUP was spring 2017. However, there has been much uncertainty about whether or not the UK would ratify the UPCA since the vote.
Now the UK has indicated that it will ratify the UPCA. Only Germany’s ratification is needed for the UPCA to come into effect. As such, there may not be such a significant delay. The UPCA could come into effect in 2017 if Germany also ratifies the UPCA in the coming months.
The announcement by the UK government is somewhat unexpected. It is encouraging that the UPC and EUP system may still come into force, but it is still unclear how the UK may participate in the system after Brexit.
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