Despite the Brexit vote, last year the UK government unexpectedly announced its willingness to ratify the UPC agreement. As a consequence, the UPC preparatory committee restarted with their preparations for the entry into force of the UPC agreement and the Unitary Patent. The preparatory committee has now published a timeline for the possible entry into force of the UPC agreement. And according to the Committee, the court might be open for business by December 2017. The sunrise period for opting out European patents from the UPC would start in September 2017.

The actual entry into force of the UPC will depend on ratification by the United Kingdom and Germany. It is presently unknown when ratification will take place. We will keep you updated.