human: Which countries are part of the Unitary Patent and the UPC?
assistant: 24 EU member states have signed the UPCA. To be covered by the Unitary Patent, an EU member state must have signed and ratified the UPCA when the unitary effect is registered.

17 EU member states have already signed and ratified the UPCA (the contracting EU member states – CMS).

When the new system starts, said 17 CMS (which are also EPC member states) will be covered by the Unitary Patent:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden.

Importantly, the geographical scope of a Unitary Patent will remain the same for its lifetime and will not be extended to any EU member states who ratify the UPCA after registration of the patent’s unitary effect.