We reported in January that the German ratification of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) agreements had been delayed pending the outcome of an application for an interim injunction in relation to two constitutional complaints.

We have now learnt that the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) has rejected the applications on the basis that the complaints on their merits were inadmissible. In all probability, there will be no hearing on the merits of the case themselves. Either way, this paves the way for ratification of the relevant agreements by the Federal President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Once this occurs, it follows that the UPC (and the single greatest reform to European patent litigation in recent memory) can proceed.