EU Court says no to Italy and Spain and yes to unitary patent plan

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 1-2 Paris Gardens, London, SE1 8ND

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

EU Court says no to Italy and Spain and yes to unitary patent plan

Italy and Spain have failed to persuade the Court of Justice of the EU to prevent other member states from going ahead with the unitary patent

The two countries had complained to Europe’s top court over the European Council’s 2011 decision to use the so-called enhanced procedure to allow the remaining 25 member states to agree a deal between themselves on a single European patent.

Italy and Spain have long been opposed to the unitary patent on language grounds, complaining that plans to use English, French and German as the new patent’s official languages discriminates against Spanish and Italian speakers.

But today the Court ruled that it was acceptable for the European Council to use the enhanced cooperation procedure after efforts to achieve agreement from each of the EU’s 27 member states had failed.

Although the Court acknowledged that it would be unacceptable for the Council to use the enhanced procedure whenever member states failed to reach agreement on an issue, it said that in this case, the Council had carefully and impartially ascertained whether the condition of “last resort” had been met. In particular, the Court noted that negotiations on the unitary patent began in 2000 and that a range of language arrangements had been discussed by member states.

The judges also rejected Spain and Italy’s arguments that the decision by the other 25 states to press ahead with a unitary patent without them would damage the internal market or the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the EU.

Spain is believed to have filed another case at the CJEU challenging the patent plans on other grounds, though details of this complaint are not yet available.

Today's decision means the unitary patent and unified patent court (UPC) plans are on track. The new system is expected to come into effect in 2015, once the UPC agreement has been ratified by at least 13 member states.

more from across site and SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Attorneys explain why there are early signs that the US Supreme Court could rule in favour of ISP Cox in a copyright dispute
A swathe of UPC-related hires suggests firms are taking the forum seriously, as questions over the transitional stage begin
A win for Nintendo in China and King & Spalding hiring a prominent patent litigator were also among the top talking points
Rebecca Newman at Addleshaw Goddard, who live-reported on the seminal dispute, unpicks the trials and tribulations of the case and considers its impact
Attorneys predict how Lululemon’s trade dress and design patent suit against Costco could play out
Lawyers at Linklaters analyse some of the key UPC trends so far, and look ahead to life beyond the transition period
David Rodrigues, who previously worked at an IP boutique, said he may become more involved in transactional work at his new firm
Indian smartphone maker Lava must pay $2.3 million as a security deposit for past sales, as its dispute with Dolby over audio coding SEPs plays out
Powell Gilbert’s opening in Düsseldorf, complete with a new partner hire, continues this summer’s trend of UPC-related lateral movement
IP leaders at Brandsmiths and Bird & Bird, who were on opposing sides at the UK Supreme Court in Iconix v Dream Pairs, unpick the landmark case and its ramifications
Gift this article