The 12th meeting of the Preparatory Committee took place on 19 October 2015. The outcome of the dedicated work of the UPC committees beforehand meant that the Rules of Procedure were subsequently adopted by the UPC member states at the meeting, and the agreed text (subject to amendments resulting from the Court fees consultation) will be published shortly on the Preparatory Committee website.

Henceforth, with Italy now a signatory state, the Preparatory Committee will focus on finishing their work by mid-2016 with a view to the Unified Patent Court being operational by the start of 2017; the new Roadmap will be published on the UPC website in due course.

Additionally, Paul van Beukering announced that he would be stepping down as Chair and that the vice chair, Alexander Ramsay, would be acting chair until formal appointments could be formalised at the next Preparatory Committee meeting in early December 2015.