German Federal Constitutional Court rejects two preliminary injunctions against the implementation of the UPC
In a press release dated 9 July 2021, the German Federal Constitutional Court announced that it has dismissed the preliminary injunctions directed against the act of approval adopted on 18 December 2020 for the purpose of ratifying the Agreement of 19 February 2013 on the Unified Patent Court (UPC).
In its reasoning, the Court states that the preliminary injunctions brought in the principal proceedings are inadmissible because the applicants have not sufficiently asserted and substantiated a possible violation of their fundamental rights.
The two preliminary injunctions failed to prevent the signing of the ratification act by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, who can now proceed to endorse the Parliament’s decision. According to experts and one of the applicants, the rejection of the preliminary injunctions is a prelude to the rejection of both appeals on the merits.
Although the path to the UPC has been long and bumpy and still requires important steps (the Agreement needs to be amended to overcome the decision of the UK in February 2020 not to participate in the UPC), it appears that the decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court paves the way for the UPC to enter into force. The most optimistic commentators hope that the UPC and, consequently, the unitary patent will enter into force during 2022, while it seems to be more realistic that the whole system will take its first steps in the second half of 2023.
To read the text of the judgment click here.
