WATCH: UPC enters the endgame

Austria’s ratification of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) protocol this week means final preparations for the pan-European court can begin.

Scheduled for launch in ‘late-2022’, with Unitary Patent applications expected to be welcomed within the next few months, the UPC’s organisers are now throwing themselves into setting up the infrastructure, IT systems, and judicial appointments needed for it to finally hear cases.

In this exclusive interview, WIPR spoke with Kevin Mooney, chairman of the committee tasked with drafting the UPC’s Rules and Procedure, and Francesco Macchetta, IP advisor to Bracco Group, about how the news was received, what happens next, and what rightsholders and lawyers should do now.