So it begins: UPC opens on 1 June

Unitary Patent

Today, 17 February 2023, the long-awaited final formality has become completed: the German ratification instrument has been deposited in Brussels. This terminates the German ratification process and sets the date of 1 June 2023 for the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPCA) to enter into force.

The news is confirmed on the UPC Website.

History is being made before our very eyes. The Unitary Patent and the new Unified Patent Court (UPC) that will change the future of how European patents are enforced in the European Union, are now finally certain to become reality on 1 June 2023.

This also means that the Sunrise period will begin in less than two weeks from today – on 1 March 2023. From that day, the UPC Case Management System (CMS) will be ready to accept the opt-out applications.

NLO has long been preparing for this memorable moment and thinking about the best strategies for our Clients. We welcome the certainty of the now confirmed starting dates and are looking forward into the future of simplified and centralised European Patent procedures with great interest.