The agreement on a Unified Patent Court was signed on February 19, 2013. Pursuant to Art. 89 (1) of the agreement, the agreement enters into force on 1 January 2014 or on the first day of the fourth month after the deposit of the instrument of ratification or accession of Germany, France and the U.K. and ten further states or on the first day of the fourth month after the date of entry into force of the amendments to Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, whichever is the latest. No state has ratified the agreement at present. Germany and the U.K. intend to ratify the agreement at the beginning of 2015.

If the agreement is in force, the Unified Patent Court has the exclusive competence in respect of actions for infringements of patents and actions for revocation of patents among others pursuant Art. 32 (1) of the agreement. These actions for infringements and revocation concern “normal” European patents as well as European patents with unitary effect pursuant Art. 2 a), e)-g) of the agreement. A transitional regime is provided for “normal” European patents pursuant Art. 83 of the agreement. For instance, an action for infringement or for revocation of a “normal” European patent may be brought before national courts during a transitional period of seven years pursuant to Art. 83 (1) of the agreement.