Düsseldorf, 20 May 2015 – The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has rejected two complaints by Spain against the “EU patent package”. They were directed against two European Union regulations concerning the introduction of a European patent with unitary effect (“EU patent”) and the pertinent translation regulations. The first complaint criticized the chosen procedural languages German, English and French: The Spanish Government considers the limitation to these three languages, as is envisaged by the regulation on the EU patent, to be discrimination against other languages. In their decision, the EU judges did in fact recognize that an unequal treatment of the languages is at hand. However, in this exceptional case it should be accepted, as it is in the interest of the legitimate goal of reducing translation costs and thus facilitating the access to patent protection. In a second complaint to the ECJ, Spain demanded the regulation establishing the unitary patent protection to be declared void. The ECJ also dismissed that claim. Cohausz & Florack (C&F) welcomes the decisions of the Court. “The EU patent is a meaningful instrument to create a climate for innovation in the European Union”, says C&F patent attorney Jan Ackermann. “Especially through the fact that translations into all official EU languages are omitted, the high cost of Europe-wide patent protection can be reduced. This also opens up the possibility of gaining pan-European patent protection for small and medium-sized companies in particular.“
A total of 25 EU Member States (with the exception of Spain and Italy) agreed to the EU patent at the end of 2011. It aims to harmonise the patent system in the EU and to provide more efficient legal proceedings and greater legal certainty. Given the recent decisions by the European Court of Justice, it can be expected to enter into force in 2016.
