UK announces intention to proceed with the Unified Patent Court Agreement

The UK government yesterday announced that its preparations for ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement are to proceed.  Ratification of this agreement by the UK and Germany will be enough to bring into effect the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court, which promise to streamline protection and enforcement of patents across Europe.  Upon its creation, the central division of the Unified Patent Court for Pharmaceutical- and Life Sciences-related patents will be in London.

This is positive news, albeit unexpected following the Brexit referendum.  We do not yet know exactly when the UK (or Germany) will ratify the agreement, or when the technical preparations will be complete. If things proceed quickly, the UP and UPC could be up and running in late 2017.

Finally, the UPCA allows for referral of legal questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It is not clear what effect Brexit would have on the new system, but it may be possible to account for Brexit by amendment of the UPCA once the system is functioning.

Given the positive news that the UPCA is in line to be ratified, it would be wise for UPC strategies to be (back) on the agenda.