Category: Ratification & Brexit

Posted on

Belgium and France are getting closer to ratification

Encouraging steps by participating member states towards the entry into force of the UPC Agreement

Belgium is now one step closer to the ratification of the UPC Agreement. In fact a draft bill, instigated by the Ministers of Economy, Foreign Affairs and Justice, was approved on 24 October 2013 in the Council of Ministers, for the ratification of the agreement of the Unified Patent. The Council of Ministers has instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs to carry out all necessary formalities to ratify the agreement.

Source: www.belgium.be

 

 

In France, on November 21st 2013 the French Senate adopted the bill authorizing the ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement. It had been presented to the French Council of Ministers on October 23rd 2013 and submitted to the French Senate the same day via the “accelerated procedure”. On November 21st 2013, a bill was thus submitted to the French National Assembly by the French Prime Minister on  to complete the authorization of the ratification of the Unified Patent Court.

Source: Le Monde du Droit

Posted on

French Prime Minister submits bill for the Ratification of the UPC Agreement:

On October 23rd, the French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault submitted to the French Senate a bill authorizing the ratification of the UPC Agreement. It now needs to be discussed by the National Assembly (French House of Representatives) before being finally adopted. The Bill was however introduced under the “Procedure Accélérée” (expedited procedure), which limits the number of times a Bill passes between the two chambers (the Assemblée Nationale and the Sénat) and is usually used to speed up a bill’s progress. This is particularly noteworthy as France is one of the three mandatory ratification countries for the implementation of the UPC regime.

 

The bill can be found on the French Senate website.

Posted on

Denmark might be joining the Unified Patent Court within the next few months:

Encouraging steps by participating member states towards the entry into force of the UPC Agreement

According to the newspaper Berlingske Tidende the Danish Government has included a bill in its legislative proposals to join the Unified Patent Court. The Minister for Trade and European Affairs, Nick Hækkerup declared about the bill that “(the) roadmap is to publish (the government’s proposals) and argue why the parliament should support this. It’s so obviously in our interest because it would also protect the inventions that are being made in Denmark”. It will not however be straightforward for Denmark to join the UPC. In fact because Denmark has an opt-out from EU legislation on Justice, if more than 80% of its MPs decide to vote against the bill, the Danish government will need to call for a referendum.

 

More information here.

Posted on

Austria is the first Member state country to ratify the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court:

Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on provisional application

On 7th August 2013, Austria became the first country to ratify the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court. However for the UPC Agreement to enter into force, thirteen instrument of ratification, including Germany, France and the United Kingdom are deposited.

 

France introduced a bill for the ratification of the UPC Agreement on 23rd October in the French Senate. For more information see “News: Ratification of the UPC Agreement by the French Prime Minister”

 

In the United Kingdom, the UPC Agreement was laid before Parliament on 14 June 2013. The Agreement must also be given effect in UK law before it can be ratified. This will mean making changes to UK law to ensure that it complies with the provisions of the UPC Agreement. The first step of this process is provided for in the Intellectual Property Bill introduced into Parliament on 9 May 2013. Clause 17 of the IP Bill will enable the Government to make the detailed changes to UK law at a later date using secondary legislation which will be considered by both Houses of Parliament.


[1] Hyperlink