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  • Hendrik Bücker

UPC ready to launch

Cohausz & Florack offers comprehensive information and support for the transition

Düsseldorf, December 8, 2022 – The Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC Agreement, UPCA) is expected to enter into force on June 1, 2023. March 1, 2023 will therefore see the beginning of the three-month “sunrise period”, in which companies have the opportunity to file an opt-out request before the Unified Patent Court (UPC) opens its doors. This opt-out means that a European patent would not come under the jurisdiction of the UPC, instead remaining under the jurisdiction of the national courts for infringement and nullity suits.

January 1, 2023 was originally envisaged as the start of the sunrise period, which would have meant that the UPCA would come into effect on April 1, 2023 (see C&F blog of October 19, 2022). The two-month delay will give patent holders more opportunity to prepare and to familiarize themselves with the electronic case management system (CMS). The initiation of the sunrise period requires one important last step: that Germany deposit the instrument of ratification. Cohausz & Florack (C&F) expects this to happen in February 2023.

“We have been preparing for the UPC launch with the utmost care and expertise for a long time,” says Hendrik Bücker, patent attorney and partner at C&F. “We know what challenges our clients face and the ins and outs of these, and we have our eye on all the deadlines.” The law firm offers interested parties a comprehensive service: information on all the changes and necessary measures is available on C&F’s specially set-up UPC website and is updated on an ongoing basis – including special explanatory videos on the UPC and on the European patent with unitary effect (Unitary Patent, UP).