The arrival of the unitary patent and the Unified Patent Court (UPC) represent the biggest changes in European patent law in a generation. Proprietors of European patents and pending European patent applications need to make important decisions about how to handle these changes in view of their effects on granted and pending patent rights.
The sunrise period for opting out from the UPC had been expected to begin on 1 January 2023, with the legislation coming into effect on 1 April 2023.
However, the start of the sunrise period has now been delayed by two months until 1 March 2023 to provide additional time to allow future users to prepare themselves for the strong authentication which will be required to access the Case Management System (CMS) and to sign documents. Other preparatory work is reported to be on track. The latest roadmap indicates that the legislation is now expected to come into force on 1 June 2023. Read more