The law enabling Latvia to ratify the Unified Patent Court (UPC) Agreement was adopted by the Saeima (Latvia’s unicameral parliament) in its third reading on 30 March 2017 and yesterday received Presidential assent here.  However, this final law differs from the draft passed in its second reading (reported here) as it now provides that it will come into force on 1 January 2018 (whereas the target date for the UPC to come into operation is 1 December 2017).

The draft law to enable Latvia to ratify the Agreement on a Nordic-Baltic regional division of the UPC (which Latvia, Sweden, Lithuania and Estonia have signed) is still passing through the Saeima, the next step being its second reading.