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Unitary Patent System: Provisional Application of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) starts

On January 18th, Austria has deposited its instrument of ratification on the Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on provisional application as the thirteenth member state.

Consequently, the necessary institutional, organizational and financial provisions of the UPCA and the corresponding Statute may be applied in a provisional manner. Thereby, a smooth transition into the operational phase of the Unified Patent Court and, together with it, the Unitary Patent System shall be made possible.

The European Patent Office which will be responsible for the grant of European Patents with unitary effect estimates that the phase of provisional application lasts eight months. Thus, the entry into force of the Unitary Patent System can be expected before the end of the year 2022.

Further information will be available on the Maiwald Blog soon.

Sources:

https://www.unified-patent-court.org/news/austria-closes-loop-protocol-provisional-application-upc-agreement-has-entered-force

https://www.epo.org/news-events/news/2022/20220117_de.html

Our blog contributions shall provide an overview with regard to legal topics, legislation and case law and are supposed to provide some general information rather than constituting any specific advice. Please do not hesitate to contact Maiwald and in particular the authors of the particular contributions if have any questions on the addressed topics or on other legal issues.

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Authors

Dr. Tobias Philipp

Senior Associate

German Patent Attorney

European Patent Attorney

Representative before the UPC

Mechanical Engineer

Ingénieur Diplômé (ECP)