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2 May 2017Patents

UKIPO confirms UPC ratification will have to wait

The UK’s ratification of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement will have to wait until after the election of the next government.

In January, the UPC preparatory committee announced that the UPC could become operational in December.

However, the announcement of a UK general election—which will take place on June 8—threw this into uncertainty.

In February, nearly three-quarters of WIPR readers were sceptical over the December start date, citing Brexit as a major spanner in the works.

A spokesperson for the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has now said “future steps will be for the next government to take, subject to factors including the Parliamentary timetable”.

The spokesperson added that the UK must ensure its law complies with the UPC Agreement before it ratifies.

In November last year, the UK gave the green light to approving the agreement, announcing that the UK will implement the unitary patent and the UPC.

The government signed the Protocol on Privileges and Immunities of the UPC in January, weeks after signalling its intent to ratify.

“This Protocol is necessary to give the UPC the privileges and immunities it needs to operate,” said the spokesperson.

According to law firm Taylor Wessing at the time, the IPO was working to a timetable on which orders of ratification of the UPC Agreement and the Protocol would be presented to Parliament for approval in February/March.

This secondary legislation still needs to be laid in Westminster and Holyrood, Scotland, and this will be delayed because of the dissolution of Parliament.

It must also be approved by the Privy Council.

“Once this legislation has been passed we will be able to formally ratify the UPC Agreement,” said the spokesperson.

“The UK has already made the necessary changes to the Patents Act 1977 through secondary legislation (March 2016). The legislation implements the UPC Agreement and also recognises the territory of the unitary patent.”

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