On November 26, 2020, the German Bundestag passed a law approving the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA). With this decision, nothing further stands in the way of ratification of the UPCA. The approval of Germany’s Bundesrat is still necessary, but this is generally considered to be a formality.
A further Constitutional complaint has already been threatened, and it is conceivable that this will be lodged in a further attempt to prevent the final ratification. As the Bundestag approved the UPCA into law with an overwhelming majority of its members, any such Constitutional complaint is expected to have, at best, only a moderate chance of success. It will be recalled that the initial Constitutional Complaint was only successful on one point, the Federal Constitutional Court indicating that a 2/3 majority of the entire Bundestag plenum being required to pass such a law – a hurdle which has now been met!
Further information:
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