The Austrian Foreign Ministry has reported that on 7 August Austria deposited in Brussels its ratification instrument for the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court.  Austria is, therefore, the first member state to ratify.  Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister, Michael Spindelegger, said he was “proud of the fact that Austria has assumed a pioneering role with regard to the new EU patent” , the patent being “a milestone for Europe as a location for science and research.”