It was always going to be an uphill battle.
To start off, very little has changed since my article over three years ago: Brexit negotiations: Starting with the UPC Agreement
Main bullet points:
- The European Patent Office continues to provide a route for applicants to obtain patent protection across Europe including many countries outside the EU. This will not change with Brexit.
- The UPC merely aims to provide a way to deal with post-grant matter in a more centralised way.
- BUT the vast majority of patent applicants are unlikely to use the UPC. Most people don't care that much about it.
- The UPC agreement is not in force, and unlikely to be any time soon. It needs a lot of political will and amendment either remove the UK from it entirely, or otherwise allow the participation of non-EU countries. The latter involves removing the need for countries to accept the supremacy of EU law.
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