On 17 February 2023 Germany finalised its ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, as announced on the court’s web site.

Germany’s ratification was the last one needed to trigger the entry into force of the agreement, so it is now certain that both the Unified Patent Court and the Unitary patent will be fully operative as of 1 June 2023.

Consequently, 1 March 2023 is the confirmed starting date for the “Sunrise period”, the trimester during which holders of European patents, already granted or still pending, can file early requests to opt out of the new court’s jurisdiction.