The UK government has confirmed it is proceeding with preparations to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement over the coming months. It will be working with the Preparatory Committee to bring the Unified Patent Court (UPC) into operation as soon as possible. However, the decision to proceed with ratification should not be seen as pre-empting the UK’s objectives or position in the forthcoming negotiations with the EU.
The new Unitary Patent regime can come into effect only when at least thirteen member states have ratified the Agreement on the UPC, including France, Germany and the UK. To date, eleven have done so, including France, with ratification procedures well advanced in Germany, the UK and also in Italy, Slovenia and Lithuania.
