Before the Unified Patent Court can become operational, the UPC Agreement (UPCA) has to be ratified by Germany. Due to a suit lodged in the German Constitutional Court concerning the German ratification of the UPCA, the ratification in Germany is deferred. A further delay of the ratification by the UK is also possible. Therefore at the present it is impossible to predict a starting date. A message from the chairman of the Preparatory Committee can be found here.