This means that the UPC agreement will enter into force on June 1st, 2023. The UPC Agreement is one of the most important evolutions in the patent landscape in Europe for more than 40 years.

As a consequence, the sunrise period for requesting an opt-out starts on March 1st, 2023. This means that EP patent, EP patent application as well as SPC owners can file from this date on an opt-out according to Art 83(3) UPC to opt-out from the jurisdiction of the UPC. For more information, please refer to our blog, see.

Since January 1st a delay of grant and early request for unitary patent is available at the EPO. For the patents, for which a delay of grant has been requested, the grant will be published on or after the entry into force of the UPC Agreement.