The Unified Patent Court (UPC) Preparatory Committee has published today a message from its Chairman, Alexander Ramsay. As at the end of 2017 and 2018, this reviews work done during the past year and also looks to the future, and this year Mr Ramsay refers to his recent interview with JUVE in which he reported on the preparatory work and also said it was realistic to expect the UPC to open in early 2021 (see also here). In his message, Mr Ramsay notes that the biggest exercise in 2019 was the “top-up” recruitment campaign of judges and reiterates that candidates will not be contacted until the provisional application phase has started. He also reports on training workshops for operational staff (with participants from signatory states), the third having taken place in 2019 and a fourth being in January 2020.  Regarding IT work, the case management system is ready for the sunrise period (during which opt-outs may be registered) and now the focus will be on review and improvement of the UPC website.