The Unified Patent Court and the Unitary Patent

As those with an interest in patents will be aware, the Unified Patent Court is still not a reality. The final ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement ("UPCA") required for the agreement to come into effect, is that of Germany (over 13 states having ratified including the UK and France, which, along with Germany, were the three states which were required to have ratified along with at least ten more, before the UPCA could come into force – see here for ratification details). Without the UPC established to enforce them, unitary patents cannot be granted.  Germany's ratification has yet to be received. 

The outcome is still awaited of the constitutional case objecting to a ratification of the UPCA by Germany, which was listed to be decided in 2019.  In a recent interview, Judge Huber of the German Federal Constitutional Court (which is the court due to decide the case) denied that the delay had anything to do with Brexit, rather that other important cases were also waiting to be decided and took precedence. He suggested that the case might be decided in the early part of 2020.  

It is generally thought that the German court is likely to reject the objector's case, but only once this is determined can the German government make a decision on whether to ratify the UPCA. Indications are that all administrative preparation to ratify had been made in readiness, however the issue of Brexit is also key, in governmental terms at least. In July 2019, in a response to a Brief Enquiry, the Federal Government stated that the consequences of Brexit were as yet unknown (and by implication were delaying ratification), but also reasserted the current Federal Government's commitment to the unitary patent and UPC project.

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