The Preparatory Committee of the Unified Patent Court is confident that enough UPC signatory states will have acceded to the Protocol on Provisional Application of the court, in order for this provisional period to start at the end of May 2017.
This has been announced after the final meeting of the Preparatory Committee on 15 March in The Hague, the Netherlands. The timing of the provisional period is ‘crucial to allow a period of time for the court to make necessary preparations before the planned entry into force in December 2017’.
According to a press release, ‘The Committee was informed that a small, operational team is now working to oversee the recruitment of judges, testing of the IT and case management system and ensure resources are in place and trained in readiness for the Court opening. In addition the Committee agreed a few minor consequential amendments to the Rules of Procedure, the latest version will appear (…) shortly.’
The Preparatory Committee announced the start of the sunrise period for opt outs is scheduled to begin in September 2017, ‘allowing approximately three months for business to make any adjustments to their IP strategies’.
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