Yesterday the European Commission published a position paper, setting out its starting point for Brexit negotiations relating to European intellectual property rights.

As reported here, Germany's ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement was unexpectedly put on hold earlier this year when a challenge against ratification was lodged at the German Federal Constitutional Court.

Despite the political chaos which has ensued following the inconclusive UK election result earlier this month, progress towards UK ratification of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA)...

Breaking news: the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) has, according to this report, ordered the Federal President not to ratify the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court.

Although the surprise announcement that there will be an early General Election in the UK means that the final stages of the UK's procedure for ratifying the UPCA have temporarily been put on hold...

According to a new announcement on the Unified Patent Court's website, the Preparatory Committee is now working on an assumption that the court will become fully operational in December 2017.

Potentially, depending on the final agreement and any transitional provisions, the UK could continue to participate in EU-wide IP regimes beyond 2019.

In a surprise announcement this morning, British Prime Minister Theresa May declared that she will seek Parliament's approval for a general election on 8 June.

Following the official start of the negotiations for British withdrawal from the EU, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has updated its guidance on the consequences of Brexit..

On 12 December 2013 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) handed down three decisions which will be of interest to anyone reliant on Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) to extend protection for pharmaceutical products after expiry of their patents.

Following the approval of the Unitary Patent package by the Council and European Parliament in December last year, representatives of 25 EU member states signed the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement in February this year, seemingly paving the way for implementation of the new Unitary Patent system in the near future.