The preparations have spanned almost 40 years, and there have been many significant obstacles to overcome. However, the “Unitary Patent” and the dedicated “Unitary Patent Court (UPC)”are now an inevitability. Jon Gowshall and Charlotte Fox of Forresters give an overview of the new system and look at some of the practical implications of the Unitary Patent and UPC for patent owners. The UPC agreement was signed on 19 February 2013, and will come into force as soon as it has been ratified by enough countries (thirteen including the UK, Germany, and France), probably in 2015.
https://international-pharma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/EU.pdf