UNIFIED PATENT COURT -

The Unified Patent Court (UPC) should become a reality in 2022 or in the first few months of 2023.

The Protocol on Provisional Application (PPA) of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (AUPC) entered into force on January 19 after Austria became the thirteenth signatory to ratify it.

As a reminder, progress was slowed for the umpteenth time in 2020, when two appeals to the German Constitutional Court were filed against the German law ratifying the UPC agreement. After the Court denied the appeals (on June 23, 2021), Germany signed and promulgated the law (on August 7 and 12, 2021, respectively) and ratified the PPA (on September 27, 2021). Slovenia then ratified the PPA on October 15, 2021.