The Unified Patent Court has launched its official website today, replacing the UPC Preparatory Committee's original site at the same address: www.unified-patent-court.org. The new website carries links to all the key legal documents establishing the Court and to the Procedural Rules, as well as information on the Court and Registry. It also links to the case management system through which opt-out applications can be made once the sunrise period commences (likely to be 1 January 2023 if Germany deposits its ratification in December – see our post here) before the Court starts to receive cases on 1 April 2023.
The new UPC website carries information on (inter alia):
- The UPC Registry – When the UPC is live you will be able to search for cases from this page using the UPC's case finder
- The documents establishing the Court and its committees, including the Protocols and the Rules of Procedure and Court Fees
- UPC structure
- Details of participating member states and the location of the courts of the central and local divisions of the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal, the Training Centre and
- The Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre
- Language of proceedings
- Opt-out
- Registration as a Representative
- FAQs
- News
- Registry and Sub-Registries contact information
- Committees Representatives
- Any official communication of the Court
- Current and upcoming vacancies at the Court
The site says that information on the Court's Judges will be added in November and that publication of new content will occur during three main phases:
- Today's publication online of the first version of the site;
- More content will be released during the Sunrise period;
- Another update will follow during the Entry into force period.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
