German Federal Council Passes Bill for Re-ratification of UPCA

Today the Federal Council (Bundesrat) unanimously passed the bill required for German ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) thereby achieving the two-thirds majority of the members mandated by the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).

The bill must now be signed by the German Government and the Federal President before UPCA and Protocol on Provisional Application (PPA) ratification can be deposited.

There is a possibility of a further complaint to the German Federal Constitutional Court (FCC). If such a complaint is received, the FCC could again ask the Federal President not to ratify the UPCA and so delay German ratification.

Assuming that Germany is able to complete the ratification process, in order for the PPA to start (which is necessary to implement the UPCA), two more countries (in addition to Germany) are required to ratify the PPA.