UPC Provisional Application Protocol Enters into Force

On January 18, 2022, Austria deposited its instrument of ratification of the Protocol on Provisional Application of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement, becoming the thirteenth EU member state to do so and therefore triggering the Protocol’s entry into force.

This marks the start of the Provisional Application Period (PAP) and the birth of the UPC as an international organization. During the PAP, which is estimated to last at least eight months, parts of the UPC Agreement and the UPC Statute to be applied provisionally, and the structural, organizational and financial functioning of the UPC will be prepared. Once the contracting states are confident that the Court is functional, Germany will deposit its instrument of ratification of the UPC Agreement, which will then enter into force on the first day of the fourth month after this date.

The UPC will be a court common to the contracting states and thus part of their judicial system, with exclusive competence with regard to European patents and patents with unitary effect. The exclusive competence is however subject to exceptions during the transitional period. The UPC’s rulings will have effect in the territory of those contracting states that ratified the UPC Agreement at the given time. The UPC will not have any competence with regard to national patents. The UPC Agreement is open to accession by any EU member state. Up to date, all EU member states except Spain and Poland have signed the Agreement.

Prepared by: Djurdja Krivokapić

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Source: UPC website