Depending on the outcome of the UK Government’s appeal to the Supreme Court on the issue of whether Parliament has to be consulted about the decision to give notice under Article 50 to leave the EU, the procedure which must lead to ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement could be the first case since…

There is a lot of enthusiasm among German patent judges, in particular but not only the younger ones, for the Unitary Patent system and the Unified Patent Court, according to Dr. Klaus Grabinski, Judge of the Federal Court of Justice of Karlsruhe in Germany. In an interview with Kluwer IP Law he welcomed the news…

What will happen if the United Kingdom, after ratifying the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) and some years of membership of the Unified Patent (UP) system, leaves the European Union? Can it continue to be a member of the system? If it doesn’t, what will happen to Unitary Patents that up to the Brexit were…

The Preparatory Committee of the Unified Patent Court is delighted with the UK’s decision to ratify the UPC Agreement and will publish a revised roadmap for the start of the Unitary Patent system as soon as possible. Chairman Alexander Ramsay is a happy man, he told Kluwer IP Law. Monday’s announcement of Minister of State…

(UPDATED) Despite the Brexit vote and in a move which ends months of uncertainty about the future of the Unitary Patent system, the UK has announced it intends to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement. UK Minister of State for Intellectual Property, Baroness Neville Rolfe, made a statement on behalf of the UK government during…

The German legal website JUVE has reported it is highly likely that the UK will announce later today its intention to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement. JUVE says it has heard this from reliable sources in London, or in German ‘gut unterrichteten Londoner Kreisen’. An official announcement of the UK on its (non)participation in the Unitary…

Tomatito (“little tomato”) is the nickname of a very popular Spanish flamenco guitar player, who began his career with mythical singers of flamenco such as Camarón de la Isla (“prawn from the island”) and who has played around the world accompanying other singers with more mundane names such as Frank Sinatra or Elton John. Having…

The United Kingdom can remain a member state of the Unitary Patent (UP) system after Brexit and it will not have to accept the supremacy of EU law by separate agreement, according to Prof Dr Ansgar Ohly of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich. He explained this in a recent lecture at the European Patent Judges‘ Forum…

Will the UK participate in the Unitary Patent system despite the Brexit vote of 23 Juni 2016? It has been the most important question concerning the system for over five months, but probably not much longer. Various sources expect the UK to make an announcement about its plans with the UP and UPC during the…

The Kluwer Patent Blog received an interesting contribution from the Italian Trade Union of IP Consultants in Italy (SICPI), concerning the relocation of the London section of the UPC Central Division in case the UK decides to leave the Unitary Patent system. Giovanni Bruni of the SICPI argues there are good arguments for Milan as…