On January 18, 2022 Austria has deposited its instruments of ratification of the Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on provisional application (PPA), see Agreement - Consilium (europa.eu) https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents-publications/treaties-agreements/agreement/?id=2015056. Accordingly, the period for Provisional Application began as of January 19, 2022.

Thus, after the German Constitutional Court in 2021 finally had rejected the constitutional complaints against Germany’s law for a ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (Official Journal of the European Union, C 175, 20 June 2013 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=OJ:C:2013:175:TOC), commonly referred to as the “UPC Agreement”, Germany is now in a position to formally deposit its corresponding instruments of ratification and “trigger” the start of the Unitary Patent System particularly instituting a new Unified Patent Court.

The new Unified Patent Court is expected to start its operations late 2022 or beginning of 2023, after Germany formally deposit its instruments of ratification of the UPC Agreement. For the latest ratification status of the UPC Agreement please refer to: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents-publications/agreements-conventions/agreement/?aid=2013001