Posted by Laura Ercoli on Tuesday December 6th, 2022

UPC kick-off postponed, Sunrise period to begin 1 March 2023

The Unified Patent Court’s inauguration has been postponed until 1 June 2023, and the Sunrise period will begin on 1 March 2023; the postponement has not affected the decision of the European Patent Office (EPO) to start applying on 1 January 2023 the transitional measures encouraging an early uptake of the Unitary Patent.

The Unified Patent Court’s inauguration date has been postponed until 1 June 2023, and the Sunrise period will begin on 1 March 2023; the Unified Patent Court announced on 5 December 2022 that it has adjusted the timeline that it had set out at the beginning of October.

According to the official statement, the decision to postpone the previously announced dates is related to the electronic hard device that users need to buy from specialised providers in order to access the UPC’s online Case Management System (CMS) and sign documents electronically. It appears that there has not been sufficient time for users to acquire such a device which will be indispensable, inter alia, to file opt-out requests during the Sunrise period.

The statement also includes a list of providers of the above devices who meet the required technical standards; it is to be noted that it is the first time that the UPC publishes such information.

All other preparatory work, the statement concludes, is in line with the original timeline published in October, therefore no further delay is expected for the UPC’s opening on 1 June 2023; the postponement does not affect the decision of the European Patent Office (EPO) to set 1 January 2023 as the starting date for the application of the transitional measures intended to support an early uptake of the Unitary Patent by holders of European Patent Applications (read more here).