The UK Government has announced that it will continue preparations to ratify the UPC Agreement to bring the system into effect “as soon as possible”^[1]. If the UK and German governments do indeed ratify the UPC Agreement in the coming months, this would mean that the UPC system could start as early as mid-2017.  

As you will no doubt know by now, on 23 June 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union.  While the precise impact of the “Brexit” is unclear at this stage, the “leave” vote will definitely have implications on how you manage and enforce your Intellectual Property rights in…