19 February 2013

Unitary Patent Court agreement signed today by 24 of 27 EU member states

As announced in this press release, 24 EU member states have signed the Unified Patent Court agreement today in Brussels in an official signing ceremony.

The UPC signatories are in alphabetical order:
  • Austria
  • Belgium 
  • Czech Republic
  • Cyprus
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom
Bulgaria is expected to sign in the coming days once internal procedures have been completed. Poland and Spain did not sign the agreement.

While Poland has become increasingly critical about signing the agreement (see here and here) and Italy still opposes the Unitary Patent due to language issues, Spain still rejects the whole package.

To enter into force, the Unified Patent Court Agreement needs to be ratified by at least 13 of the 24 signing states, including Germany, the United Kingdom, and France as mandatory parties of the agreement. 

As reported on ksnh.::law earlier this afterneen, the so called Friends of the Presidency Group will meet in Brussels on 27 February 2013 (see agenda) to exchange information on national ratification processes and the setting up of the Preparatory Committee.

(Photo: Council of the European Union)

posted by Volker 'Falk' Metzler on 2/19/2013  

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