The Kluwer Patent Blog publishes the first draft bill on the ratification of the Unified Patent Court and draft bill to implement the Unitary Patent at national level, both revealed by the German Federal Ministry of Justice.
A public consultation will take place before the final version is presented to the German Parliament, and should end before summer according to a spokesman for the German Ministry of Justice. The date of the ratification of the UPCA by Germany is on the other hand still unknown, and Germany’s delay in doing so is seen as a way to control the timing of the UPC’s entry into force.
The draft bills give indications as to the costs that Germany will bear for the Central Division in Munich, which should be around one million euros for its creation and 450.000 euros annually for its operation; and the states of Bavaria, Baden Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg for the four local divisions, estimated at two million euros altogether for their implementation and another 900.000 euros every year .
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