German court extends comment period on UPC challenge

The German Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) has extended the comment period on the credibility of a challenge to the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

In June, the court announced it was delaying the ratification of the UPC Agreement because of a constitutional complaint brought by an individual.

According to German news site Juve, Düsseldorf-based attorney Ingve Stjerna filed the complaint.

In August, WIPR reported on details of the delay.

Thorsten Bausch, a patent attorney at Hoffman Eitle who published details on the  Kluwer Patent Blog, said it seems the plaintiff argued that “the German ratification law to the UPC is tantamount to a law that amends or supplements” the Constitution.

On Friday, October 20, law firm Bristows reported that the court had extended the deadline for comments from October 31 to December 31.

Stjerna, in a blog post in August, noted that the court had sent the complaint to several parties to the proceedings and to third parties for their comments.

In an update, Stjerna stated that the number of invitations to comment is presently 27.

The Bundesverfassungsgericht confirmed the extension, adding that the parties entitled to submit statements requested the extension.

The UPC has been hit with a number of setbacks, although it has been ratified by 12 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden.

In the UK, the motion on the Unified Patent Court (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2017, the final legislative step in the UK’s ratification process, was not debated in the House of Commons as had been scheduled in July.

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