TEAM UPC had long faked 'momentum'; it even admitted so last month.
"Is Team UPC close to giving up as well?"The main issue we have is that it makes the UPC sound like a "matter of time", but it's dead. Managing IP won't say it because of its business model. Managing IP has just bragged about being the "official Congress News publisher" at a lobbying platform of patent extremists and it did the same with UPC events. Same issue in IP Kat.
"Alex Robinson, partner at patent attorney firm Mathys & Squire in London" is quoted towards the end (that's Team UPC itself!) and he too admits what other Team UPC fanatics continue to deny; the UPC complaint isn't the sole barrier anymore because the German government too has lost interest, irrespective of the FCC. Here are some portions from the article:
The UK has said that the UPC cannot come into operation before Brexit in October, as industry experts warn that the long-held plan risks losing momentum altogether
Sources say a UPC featuring the UK is now unlikely given the UK’s pursuit of a ‘hard Brexit’.
Luke McDonagh, senior lecturer at City University in London – and who has been following UPC matters closely – says if there is a ‘no deal’ then there is “very little chance the UK will remain in the UPC”.
Thorsten Bausch, partner at Hoffman Eitle in Munich, agrees and says that the UK’s participation will be “extremely difficult – if not impossible – for political and legal reasons”.
[...]
McDonagh adds: “Meanwhile, the German Constitutional challenge to the UPC has yet to be resolved. There is a danger that the UPC project has lost crucial momentum.”
Alex Robinson, partner at patent attorney firm Mathys & Squire in London, points out that even if the October 31 date is extended and the Constitutional complaint resolved, the German government has confirmed that it won’t ratify the UPC Agreement until the effects of Brexit are known.