At the Competitiveness Council meeting today the United Kingdom minister for Intellectual Property announced that the UK intends to ratify the UPC Agreement and stated in a press release that: “The UK will continue with preparations for ratification over the coming months. It will be working with the Preparatory Committee to bring the UPC into operation as soon as possible.” …
This is an unexpected development, and certainly a surprise for the patent community that the Unitary Patent and the Unified Patent Court can now likely start earlier than expected in the last post-Brexit referendum months after 24 June. The necessary legislation will have to pass through Parliament, but it now seems very likely that the UPC will become reality during autumn 2017. You can find the full text of the UK IPO’s press release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-signals-green-light-to-unified-patent-court-agreement
The UK’s post-Brexit long term position needs still to be clarified in the future. With the UK’s participation the UPC will be very attractive proposition for businesses in Europe covering a population of 400+ million and four G8 economies. UPC is likely to become globally a major patent jurisdiction.
KIPA has a number of qualified attorneys qualified and prepared for the UPC, please contact our team with any questions related to the UPC: mail(at)kipa.se