An Announcement of a Delay in the Operation of the European Union’s Unified Patent Court (UPC)

The Preparatory Committee of the European Union's Unified Patent Court (UPC) has just announced a change in the likely time by which the Court will be operational. It is now not expected to be in operation until the end of 2015 at the earliest. The following is a quote taken from the Committee's website click here.

"After one year of preparatory work the Committee has deemed it appropriate to conduct a revision of its roadmap which was discussed at the meeting. Even if considerable progress has been logged it is apparent that some areas suffer delays. It is clear to the Committee that the ambitious target date of early 2015, decided at its first meeting, cannot be accomplished. The Committee stays completely focused on its task but at the same time cannot let self-imposed deadlines stand in the way of quality. At its fifth meeting it was agreed that the UPC will not be operational until the end of 2015 at the earliest. A new revised roadmap will be published at the website shortly."

Many commentators have been cautioning for some time that the date in early 2015 looked optimistic. Even late 2015 is perhaps ambitious, and a date in 2016 appears more realistic.