Malta: a ratification ... and a problem?

Malta has now definitely ratified the Unified Patent Court Agreement, this event taking place yesterday, 9 December 2014. Malta's accession has been the subject of both speculation and confusion, as reported on earlier PatLit posts here, here, here and here.

Readers might like to consider the ramifications of this ratification in light of what Keltie's Emily Weal and Mark Richardson, writing on the IPCopy blog, call the "Malta Problem", here.

Hat-tip to Darren Smyth (EIP) for spotting this item!

First Austria and now, it seems, Malta. Who's next?

Thanks to Ingve Stjerna I've had a chance to take note of this short piece on Keltie LLP's IPCopy weblog, "Has Malta ratified the Unified Patent Court Agreement?" by Emily Weal. According to Emily's dexterous use of Google Translate,

"Malta has now passed the ratification process , to be carried out in accordance with article 3 of the Act on Ratification Treaties (Cap 304) Authorizing the Maltese Parliament to ratify the Agreement (Patent Court Industrial unified) Unified Patent Court (UPC) which was signed on 19 February 2013".

Has anyone heard more about this event, or as to whether any other country (apart from Austria, which has already ratified) is also in the middle of committing itself?