The progress on the ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC Agreement) had been delayed due to two constitutional complaints filed before the Constitutional Court in Germany. It was not the first attack on German UPC legislation. A first act of approval had been adopted by the Bundestag in March 2017, but was declared invalid by the Constitutional Court in February 2020 based on a complaint about how the UPC legislation had been passed.

In an order dated 23 June 2021, which was published on 9 July 2021, the German Constitutional Court rejected two applications for preliminary injunction directed against the second act of approval. In its reasoning, the Second Senate states that the constitutional complaints lodged in the principle proceedings are inadmissible because the complainants had not sufficiently substantiated the possibility of a violation of their fundamental rights. The Court’s press release can be accessed here.

These decisions clear the path for the ratification procedure in Germany. It is likely that Germany will sign the UPC Agreement within this year. This means the UPC could finally be ready to operate as early as Spring 2022!