UNITARY PATENT

The Spanish parliament has passed a motion requesting the government to reconsider the decision to stay out of the unitary patent.

On 7 March 2017 the Spanish parliament’s committee for the economy, industry and competitiveness approved a motion requesting the government to examine the possibility of joining the unitary patent system.

According to the press, the motion was supported by all parties except the government party, the Partido Popular.

Italy and Spain had originally chosen to stay out of the group of countries supporting the unitary patent in disagreement with the decision to limit unitary patent official languages to French, English and German only. Italy and Spain maintained that this choice was not compatible with European Union law, and appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The court struck down all the arguments for the appeals and refused to admit a further appeal brought by Spain alone.

Italy later changed course and joined the “enhanced cooperation” on the unitary patent. The motion of the Spanish parliament is the first significant sign that Spain might also reconsider its position.