Keywords: Germany, Unified Patent Court, Unitary Patent, UPC Agreement
On 16 February 2016, the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection published the first draft of legislation that will make it possible for Germany to ratify the UPC Agreement. The draft law granting consent for ratification was published together with accompanying draft legislation to implement the unitary patent system into German law. The accompanying law proposal in particular contains changes to German patent and civil procedure law to accommodate the unitary patent. It, among other things, also addresses the delegation of German judges to the UPC.
After a period of consultation, it is anticipated that final draft laws will be introduced into the German parliament before the summer of 2016. These will then pass through the legislative process in parliament for debate, any amendments, and then a final vote—probably in autumn.
Dr. Ulrich Worm and Benjamin Beck, a partner and a research assistant, respectively, in the Intellectual Property practice group of Mayer Brown, analyzed the current state of ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement in Germany in a recent article published in World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR). To read their article, Oktoberfest for the UPC?, click here.
Originally published March 24, 2016
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