"There has been some speculation this week about the UK’s timetable for ratification of the Agreement. As reported in Managing IP on 30 March, we are fully on track to commence the provisional application period and ratify the UP Agreement according to the Preparatory Committee’s timetable (i.e. provisional application in May and court operational in December 2017). We expect the legislation on privileges and immunities to be ready to lay after Easter."Of course, many will not be wishing to count their ratification chickens before they are hatched.
The update from the UK IPO also confirmed that the UPC Preparatory Committee's HR team is ready to proceed with the judicial recruitment process following the commencement of the provisional application period. This update came during Wednesday's Preparatory Committee's Interim Team meeting held at the UPC Court of Appeal building in Luxembourg. The Interim Team consists of 5 sub-groups in charge of finalizing practical arrangements for the UPC.