Today the German Federal Constitutional Court rejected two applications for an interim injunction against the German implementation of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA). The outcome of the decisions is a clear yes to a European patent court system!

After back and forth for years – constitutional challenges and a new (refreshed) act passed by the German Bundestag in November 2020 – it seems that the Constitutional Court now cleared the way towards the entry into force of the UPC system.

According to the key considerations of the Senate the complainants failed to demonstrate why and how the UPC Agreement could violate the principle of the rule of law enshrined in article 20 (3) GG in a manner that would also encroach upon the principle of democracy. The Senate thus that the two complaints are not admissible. Next step is now for the federal president to sign the law; however, it is unclear when this will happen as the German government is close to its summer break.

In any case, these are good news for friends of the UPCA. Alexander Ramsey, head of the UPC Preparatory Committee, already announced that he expects that the provision application phase starts early fall this year which means that the UPC might be up and ready in late 2022.