Slovenia Ratifies UPC Provisional Application Protocol

On October 15, 2021, Slovenia deposited its instrument of ratification of the Protocol on Provisional Application (PPA) of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement and of the UPC Agreement itself.

The PPA will allow some parts of the UPC Agreement and the UPC Statute to be applied provisionally. It is one of the documents required to prepare the structural, organizational and financial functioning of the UPC.

Following Slovenia’s recent ratification and Germany’s ratification of the PPA Protocol on September 27, 2021, only one more signatory state needs to ratify or make a declaration with respect to the PPA for it to enter into force.

The UPC will be a court common to the contracting states and thus part of their judicial system, with exclusive competence with regard to European patents and patents with unitary effect. The exclusive competence is however subject to exceptions during the transitional period. The UPC’s rulings will have effect in the territory of those contracting states having ratified the UPC Agreement at the given time. The UPC will not have any competence with regard to national patents. The UPC Agreement is open to accession by any EU member state. Up to date, all EU member states except Spain and Poland have signed the Agreement.

Prepared by: Djurdja Krivokapić

For more information, please contact slovenia@petosevic.com.

Source: Unified Patent Court website