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The Unified Patent Court (UPC) have today announced that the start of the Sunrise Period for the new UPC is being delayed by two months to 1 March 2023. This means that the court itself will now open its doors on 1 June 2023.
There had been widespread calls in recent weeks for a delay in the start of the Sunrise Period due to complications arising from the UPC’s last-minute decision to require ‘strong authentication’ to access the court’s Case Management System (CMS). These calls have now been heeded. In announcing the delay, Klaus Grabinski, President of the UPC Court of Appeal, and Johannes Karcher, Acting Chairman of the Administrative Committee of the UPC, acknowledged that additional time was needed to allow future users to prepare themselves for the strong authentication which will be required to access the CMS and to sign documents.
Other aspects of the preparatory work appear to still be on track. Therefore, despite this short delay, it is important for applicants and proprietors of European patents and applications to continue to move forwards with their preparations for the UPC.
If you are interested in opting out your European patents from the jurisdiction of the UPC, please contact your usual advisor at Boult Wade Tennant without delay.