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| Mini Kat for a mini UPC update... |
Yesterday, the UK's deputy permanent representative to the EU,
Shan Morgan, signed the
Protocol on Privileges and Immunities of the Unified Patent Court. The Protocol is necessary for the UPC and its judges to carry out their activities. The UK was the final remaining compulsory signatory to the Protocol
to sign. The others - France, Germany and Luxembourg - signed the Protocol on 29 June 2016 (soon after the referendum). The UK still needs to pass national legislation to implement the Protocol before it can ratify. This will be done by way of a statutory instrument (SI). The UK's signature of the Protocol will be recorded on the Council's website
shortly.
The current understanding is that the UK will ratify the UPC Agreement by March/April 2017, followed by a transitional period before the Court's doors open in Fall 2017.
"But, if 2017 is anything like 2016, who can predict..." muses Merpel.
