一覧に戻る Update Unitary Patent: International agreement on a Unified Patent Court signed by the Member States

Today 24 Member States^1,2 signed the international agreement on a Unified Patent Court (“UPC agreement”). The agreement is the third element of the so-called “unitary patent package”, further including a regulation establishing enhanced cooperation for unitary patent protection and a regulation on the language regime. As reported earlier, the two regulations were adopted by the European Council and the European Parliament on December 17, 2012.

The UPC agreement and thus the whole “unitary patent package” will enter into force on the later of January 01, 2014 or four months after its ratification by at least 13 member states, including UK, Germany and France. Once in force, it will significantly change the patent prosecution and litigation landscape in Europe, offering new opportunities, but also bearing risks for the patentees.

The press release of the Council of the European Union is available at:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/intm/135593.pdf

The text of the UPC agreement is available at:
http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/12/st16/st16351.en12.pdf

A corrigendum of the text of UPC agreement is available at:
http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/12/st16/st16351-co01.en12.pdf

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact burger@mueller-bore.de.

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