Unified Patent Court is given new home in the City

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The UK Intellectual Property Office has announced that the London section of the Central Division and the UK Local Division of the Unified Patent Court will be situated in the City of London. The new one stop shop patent court developed by Europe will be based in the east of the city of London, away from the traditional legal district.

The UK IPO released information confirming they are signed a lease in Aldgate Tower, Whitechapel to create the space for the new legal premises.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe, intellectual property minister, said the signing of the lease represents a milestone in the UK’s preparations for the introduction of the Unified Patent Court.

The Baroness continued, endorsing the location for the court, stating that it will ‘strengthen UK’s legal and professional services sector, and reinforce London’s status as a world-leading centre for dispute resolution’.

The United Patent Court will be put in place in 25 member states across Europe, creating a common link throughout their judicial systems. By putting this in place, consistency should develop across these member states. Each member states will have their own division. The central division will be seated in Paris, with central sections in London and Munich.

The court, in theory, is looking for opening in 2016. However, there is still a number of member states yet to ratify the agreement to create the unified patent system. In addition, the court could face adversity in relation to the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU which will take place in 2017.Â