Irish Referendum on Participation in the Unified Patent Court Delayed

As reported previously, the Irish government had planned a constitutional referendum in June 2024 on the subject of whether Ireland should participate in the UPC. It has recently been announced that this referendum will be delayed due to concerns that more time is needed for public discourse and engagement on the matter. A new date has not yet been set for the referendum. However, the government have indicated that they still wish to join the UPC and pursue a referendum.

Further developments regarding the planned referendum and the possibility of Ireland joining the UPC will be reported in due course. For the time being, it will remain necessary to pursue separate national validation of a European patent in Ireland to obtain patent protection in this territory based on a European patent.