The EU Unified Patent Court expected to open in 2022

Following the ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement and the Protocol on the Provisional Application of the UPC Agreement in late December 2021 the establishment of the UPC can now continue into the next phase.

Once Austria deposits its instruments of ratification, the provisional application phase of the UPC and the practical preparations for the operation of the UPC will begin. The Austrian government is expected to formally deposit its ratification soon.

The provisional application phase will involve adopting the secondary legislation of the UPC, including the establishment of court procedures, budgeting, recruitment of judges and staff, and the finalising of file management systems and IT infrastructure. There is no set timeline for the completion of this phase, but the Committee excepts it will take six to ten months.

Once the UPC member states agree that the initial provisional application stage is almost complete (likely during the next two to six months), Germany will deposit its UPC Agreement ratification, which will trigger another four-month period before the UPC may officially take its first cases.

The UPC establishes a common patent court for the contracting Member States. The UPC will have exclusive competence in respect of European patents and European patents with unitary effect.