{"id":8058,"date":"2020-03-29T14:31:06","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T13:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hgf.com\/?p=8058"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:49:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T09:49:01","slug":"the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hgf.com\/de\/knowledge-hub\/legal-updates\/the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The end of the UPC as we know it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The German Federal Constitutional Court has issued a\u00a0decision<\/a>\u00a0(in German) which ruled the German UPCA Ratification Law to be unconstitutional and void.\u00a0 However, the court\u00a0dismissed the second set of arguments (violation of fundamental democratic rights and the principle of separation of powers) as inadmissible.<\/p>\n

So while a significant blow to progress of the UPC, it is possible that the UPC bill could be presented once more to the Bundestag, where the present Government might be able to get the required two-thirds majority. \u00a0Of course, this will take a while to be tabled in view of the present global COVID-19 crisis and also raises the possibility of whether the same complaint could be brought again but focussed on more substantive aspects like transfer of sovereign rights, issues with the EPO, judges, to name but a few.\u00a0 Furthermore, given that the UK has indicated it\u00a0will no longer seek to participate in unitary patent and UPC, the agreement in its current form would need significant amendment before it could again be taken through the German constitutional process.<\/p>\n

The UPC prep committee has\u00a0commented<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cDespite the fact that the judgement will result in further delay the preparatory work will continue, while the judgment and the way forward is further analysed\u201d. \u00a0Less surprisingly, they also stated that \u201cIt should be acknowledged that all colleagues working for the Preparatory Committee are facing unprecedented challenges with the COVID-19 outbreak but work will move forward using all available resources to keep the momentum\u201d.<\/p>\n

This update was prepared by HGF Partner\u00a0Rachel Fetches<\/a>.\u00a0 If you would like further advice on this or any other matter, please contact Rachel. Alternatively, you can contact your usual HGF representative or visit our Contact page<\/a>\u00a0to get in touch with your nearest HGF office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The German Federal Constitutional Court has issued a\u00a0decision\u00a0(in German) which ruled the German UPCA Ratification Law to be unconstitutional and void.\u00a0 However, the court\u00a0dismissed the second set of arguments (violation …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315,"featured_media":9004111222135952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[497,509],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knowledge-hub","category-legal-updates","service-patents"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe end of the UPC as we know it? - HGF<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hgf.com\/de\/knowledge-hub\/legal-updates\/the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The end of the UPC as we know it?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The German Federal Constitutional Court has issued a\u00a0decision\u00a0(in German) which ruled the German UPCA Ratification Law to be unconstitutional and void.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hgf.com\/de\/knowledge-hub\/legal-updates\/the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HGF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-29T13:31:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T09:49:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hgf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IAM-Rachel-Fetches.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Akvil\u0117 Lukauskaite\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@behrooz@tall.agency\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hgf_ip\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Akvil\u0117 Lukauskaite\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 Minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hgf.com\\\/de\\\/knowledge-hub\\\/legal-updates\\\/the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hgf.com\\\/de\\\/knowledge-hub\\\/legal-updates\\\/the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Akvil\u0117 Lukauskaite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hgf.com\\\/de\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e6343663c5ee3e1ccea20cd220f97f30\"},\"headline\":\"The end of the UPC as we know it?\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-29T13:31:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-18T09:49:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hgf.com\\\/de\\\/knowledge-hub\\\/legal-updates\\\/the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":304,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hgf.com\\\/de\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hgf.com\\\/de\\\/knowledge-hub\\\/legal-updates\\\/the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hgf.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/IAM-Rachel-Fetches.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Knowledge Hub\",\"Legal Updates\"],\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hgf.com\\\/de\\\/knowledge-hub\\\/legal-updates\\\/the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hgf.com\\\/de\\\/knowledge-hub\\\/legal-updates\\\/the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hgf.com\\\/de\\\/knowledge-hub\\\/legal-updates\\\/the-end-of-the-upc-as-we-know-it\\\/\",\"name\":\"The end of the UPC as we know it? 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