Updates on UP & UPC, the launch planned for April 1
According to the latest available information, the European patent with unitary effect (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Unitary patent’) and the Unified Patent Court (or UPC for short) are expected to come into operation on April 1, 2023.
After so many postponements, appeals and setbacks, the date chosen sends us back to April Fools’ Day jokes and makes us question whether it is all true. In the initial phase, the Unitary patent will take effect in 17 of the current 27 EU member states, while at full effect it will extend to all EU member states except Croatia, Poland and Spain, but it is not yet possible to make predictions on the timing of entry for Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.
To read the insight by our Mauro Eccetto: please click here.