On February 17, 2023 Germany has deposited its ratification of the UPC Agreement. Germany’s ratification initiated the countdown to the beginning of the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court.  Germany’s ratification means that the Agreement will enter into force and the Unified Patent Court will begin operation on 1 June 2023. It will be also become possible to obtain unitary patents from this date.

Now 17 member states have ratified the UPC Agreement: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden. It is a possibility that other countries may join in the future, now, however, unitary Patent Package will become effective and first unitary patent will cover these currently 17 states only. Also the new Unified patent court will be common to these 17 countries and will have exclusive jurisdiction over unitary patents and shared jurisdiction in respect of current classical European Patents.

(Source of illustration: European Patent Office)

German ratification of the UPC Agreement also means that the “Sunrise Period” will start, as expected, on 1 March 2023. From 1 March 2023, it will become possible to file opt out requests from the jurisdiction of the UPC regarding published European patent applications, validated European Patents.

„Sunrise Period“ will be a safe time of period during which applications to opt-out can be made before the UPC becomes operative. Opting-out is not possible if some action is already brought before the UPC. Thus, it would be recommended to file opt-out requests during the sunrise period. This period will grant patent owners time to opt-out before competitors have the chance to initiate a revocation action before the UPC. Please read our previous articles: “Opt-out from UPC: what EU patent proprietors need to know and must prepare now?” and “UPC: opt-out or stay?”. Also our specialists are ready to help regarding opt-out requests or any other UP/UPC service.