The Provisional Application Phase of the UPC has begun as Austria ratifies protocol

As Austria was the 13th member state to ratify the PPA, the PPA entered into force, meaning that several articles of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA) entered into provisional application marking the beginning of the Provisional Application Period (PAP). 

During this period, the last preparatory work in establishing the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and preparing for its operation will be conducted. Accordingly, the UPC will be given the legal capacity to complete a number of necessary organizational steps, such as the recruitments of judges, finalization of IT-systems, etc. 

It is estimated that the PAP will last at least eight months. However, it is still too early to say with certainty when the UPCA will enter into force. One of the issues that need to be resolved is the relocation of the seat of the part of the UPC's Central Division originally assigned to London and responsible for chemical cases. No agreement has yet been reached on its new location following Brexit.  

Following completion of the PAP, the UPC will enter into force 3-4 months after Germany has ratified the UPCA, which it is understood will not happen until all major problems have been cleared. It is presently not clear whether Germany would ratify before an agreement has been reached concerning the relocation of what was intended to be the London part of the Central Division.