The Unified Patent Court (UPC) is a common patent court open for participation of member states of the European Union, and created by the "Agreement on a Unified Patent Court" (UPC Agreement or UPCA), which is provisionally applicable since 19 January 2022. Once the UPC Agreement will be in force, the UPC will hear cases regarding infringement and revocation proceedings of European patents (including unitary patents) that are valid in participating member states. A single court ruling will be directly applicable in the member states that have ratified the UPC Agreement. The UPC Agreement was signed as an intergovernmental treaty in February 2013 by 25 states (all EU member states except Spain, Poland and Croatia). It will enter into force on the first day of the fourth month after meeting