Green Light for German UPCA Ratification

Two applications at the German Constitutional Court (FCC) for preliminary injunctions against German ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) have been rejected, according to today's Press Release of the FCC.

The rejection clears the path for the German Federal President to sign the bill passed by both houses of parliament in December 2020 into law. Signing of the bill is the last step necessary before the UPCA and Protocol on Provisional Application (PPA) ratifications can be deposited by Germany.

The applications for preliminary injunctions were refused on the basis that the complaints lodged in the principle proceedings are inadmissible as they failed sufficiently to assert and substantiate a possible violation of fundamental rights. This suggests that in their current form the two constitutional cases will fail in their bid to prevent Germany from proceeding with the UPCA.

German ratification is necessary for the PPA to start. Additionally two further countries must ratify the PPA so that the minimum number of ratifications is achieved. It is understood that two countries are in a position to ratify the PPA at relatively short notice. PPA ratification is required in order to implement the UPCA and enable the creation of the Unitary Patent (UP) and the establishment of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). The UP is intended to be a patent with unitary effect throughout the contracting EU member states. The UPC, if it comes into existence, will be a Court for hearing disputes relating either to the UP or to European patents having effect in the EU member states.