On 18 May 2023, the Italian government confirmed that the third
Central Division seat of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) will be
hosted in Milan.
The statement issued by the Italian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has said that the new
seat will be operational within one year. However, with the UPC
launch date approaching on 1 June 2023, Paris and Munich will
initially share the caseload until Milan is operational, as confirmed by the UPC Presidium on 16 May 2023
(see our previous blog post).
Milan-based Joint Global Head of Intellectual Property, Laura Orlando, discussed the recent
developments with Rory O'Neill at Managing IP.
Responding to the UPC's statement on 16 May, Laura said:
"The announcement of that provisional split, in the absence of
any reference to Milan, had led many readers and part of the
Italian press to think that Italy would no longer have the third
seat."
