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UNITARY EUROPEAN PATENT – Establishment postponed to 2018

UNITARY EUROPEAN PATENT – Establishment postponed to 2018

The postponement is due to the lacking ratification of the UPC (Unified Patent Court) agreement by Germany, which is essential (alongside with Great Britain’s approval, still missing, but in the development phase) for the Unitary Patent to become effective.
Following a complaint to the Constitutional Court of Germany claiming that the UPC agreement breaks German law, in fact, Germany’s Federal President, Frank Walter Steinmeier, has decided to postpone the approval procedure of the UPC agreement until after the Court has reached a final verdict.
In light of this recent evolution of facts, on the 27th of June 2017, an announcement from Alexander Ramsay, the President of UPC preparatory committee, made the Unitary European Patent postponement to 2018 official, yet at the same time speculating on a provisional application period, perhaps starting in autumn 2017.