The Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on provisional application (the PAP-Protocol) was initially signed on 1st October 2015 to establish a Phase of Provisional Application (PAP)  to ensure « a smooth transition into the operational phase and ensure the proper functioning of the Unified Patent Court before the entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court ». This text is pivotal in the UPC for the practical preparation that is required to run the Court but also in terms of timing for anticipating the actual date of implementation of the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA).

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The publication of the law in the Federal Law Gazette finally puts an end to the legal complications that have been blocking the german ratification process and, consequently, the establishment of the Unified Patent Court (UPC). But this does not mean that the UPC can finally start to operate. Before the UPC can actually open its doors, the period of the preparatory phase must begin. Germany intends to ratify the Protocol on Provisional Application in early autumn. According to this Protocol, some parts of the UPC Agreement will be provisionally applied before it becomes fully effective. In order for

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