The Council of Ministers has adopted a regulation to amend the EU rules on the jurisdiction of courts and recognition of judgments (Brussels I Regulation) to clarify how its jurisdictional rules will work in the context of the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

In December 2013, justice ministers of the member states adopted a general approach on the text of the European Commission's proposal to update the Brussels I Regulation to include the jurisdiction requirements of the UPC and the Benelux Court of Justice (see Legal update, European Commission proposes UPC amendments to EU jurisdiction regulation).

On 15 April 2014, the European Parliament plenary session adopted a legislative resolution on the proposed regulation, on the basis of a compromise text reached in trialogue on 11 February 2014 (see Legal update, European Parliament approves Unified Patent Court amendments to Brussels Regulation).

The regulation will now be published in the Official Journal and will enter into force on the day following that of its publication. It will apply from 10 January 2015.

Source: Council press release, 6 May 2014.