On 5 December 2022 the Unified Patent Court has announced to postpone the start of the Sunrise Period from 1 January 2023 to 1 March 2023.

The postponement of the start date is intended to enable future users to prepare for the strong authentication required to access the case management system (CMS) of the Unified Patent Court in the best possible way. The providers currently available cannot guarantee to provide all hard- and software for authentication until the initial starting date.

The official entry into force of the UPCA is thus postponed to 1 June 2023.

Further information can be found here.

Note: The date for the start of the transitional measures offered by the EPO remains unchanged despite the postponement of the sunrise period. Applicants will be able to file early requests for unitary effect and a deferment of the decision on the grant of a European patent from 1 January 2023.