The ratification process for Europe’s upcoming Unified Patent Court (UPC) continues slowly but steadily, with legislation implementing a key agreement that grants the court legal status on the cusp of passage in the UK and Luxembourg. However, while the UPC’s Preparatory Committee had previously expected the court’s “provisional application” pilot phase to start in December 2017, the court’s launch has been effectively stalled indefinitely in the wake of a spring constitutional challenge against two required pieces of legislation in Germany, which public information suggests is still pending in the country’s Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht).