Romania Expected to Become a UPC Contracting State
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Romania Expected to Become a UPC Contracting State

Amendments to Romanian national law allowing for ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) entered into force on 14 April 2024. The UPCA will be able to enter into force in Romania on the first day of the fourth month following deposit of the instrument of ratification, and thus Romania could become a UPC contracting state as early as Q4 2024. This would make Romania the first new UPC contracting state since opening of the UPC, and take the total number of contracting states to 18.

Unitary patents registered after the entry into force of the UPCA in Romania will cover 18 states, including Romania. Unitary patents already registered before this date will continue not to cover Romania. National validations in Romania will also be subject to the UPC’s jurisdiction unless the European patent is opted out.

Further developments regarding entry into force of the UPCA in Romania will be reported once more information is available.