Austria has taken the next steps towards the start of the Unified Patent Court by the approval by the Nationalrat (National Council – i.e., the lower house of parliament) on 19 November 2021 the Protocol on Provisional Application of the Unified Patent Court. This follows the recent ratification by Germany reported here and Slovenia reported here. Ratification or consent by thirteen member states of the European Union is necessary before the start of the preparatory phase of the Court.
The draft law has now to be approved by the Bundesrat (Federal Council – i.e., the upper house of parliament) and it is on the agenda for the meeting of the committee for Innovation, Technology and Future on 30 November. It will then pass to a full meeting of the Bundesrat on 2 December. Assuming the law is approved, then the Austrian President will sign the law and it will be published in the Austrian Federal Gazette before coming into force. This is likely to be the required thirteenth approval and will mean that the Court’s work to start opening can commence.
