Ireland to hold referendum to join the Unified Patent Court

It was confirmed last night that Ireland will hold a referendum in June to ratify the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court, which will lead to the establishment of a Local Division of the Unified Patent Court in Ireland. The UPC has been up and running in 17 Member States since June 2023. Since then, our specialist, multi-jurisdictional intellectual property team at Bird & Bird has been helping clients navigate the new landscape across Europe. We are acting in 17 cases in the Central and Local Divisions across Europe, and our experts on the ground in Ireland and from across Europe will closely monitor and commentate on the upcoming referendum.