Entry into force of UPC Agreement postponed till 1 June 2023

The Administrative Committee of the UPC has decided to postpone the start of the sunrise period by 2 months from originally planned 1 January 2023 to now 1 March 2023. The operational start of the new Court will also be postponed by 2 months to 1 June 2023. Therefore, filing requests for opting out of European Patents from the jurisdiction of the UPC and filing requests to become a representative before the UPC will only be possible with the UPC registry from the now announced start of the sunrise period on 1 March 2023.

This delay will allow all potential users and representatives more time to get an account at the UPC CMS system, which as a first step needs certain digital authorization and electronic signature certificates from a suitable EU-trusted provider. epi is offering a platform for its members to exchange information and experiences on the CMS (epi patentepi.org), supplementing the information provided by the UPC on its homepage Adjustment of the timeline – Start of the Sunrise Period on 1 March 2023 | Unified Patent Court (unified-patent-court.org) .

Please note that as of now this announcement has no direct effect on the introductory measures for the Unitary Patent by the EPO, e.g. filing early request for Unitary effect or filing a request to delay the grant of a European Patent for obtaining Unitary effect. These will become available from 1 January 2023, as expected.“