United Kingdom ratifies unitary patent



On 26 april 2018 the United Kingdom has ratified the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court. This is one other step towards making the UPC a reality. Ratification of the UK was one of two remaining requirements. The last ratification that is still required is that of Germany. Ratification in Germany awaits the resolution of a court case  that has been pending for about 10 months now before the constitutional court of Germany.

Assuming Germany ratifies before the Brexit is complete, the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court will go into force. One question is what will happen to the position of the UK after it leaves the EU. I'm assuming that the UK considers it likely that they will remain a member; otherwise what is the point of ratifying it. Some legal confirmation of this would be interesting.


Photo by Meditations obtained via Pixabay under CC0 license (no changes made).