EU Tosses Spanish Challenge To Unified Patent Court

The Court of Justice of the European Union cleared the way for a unified patent system in Europe this week when it rejected the “Spanish Challenge” to the Unitary Patent system. The Unitary Patent system is a part of the Unified Patent Package, signed in December 2012. The so-called Spanish challenge, explains a client alert from Ropes & Gray, was filed shortly after, arguing that the new system was a breach of EU law because it gave unnecessary authority to the European Patent Office and because it did not integrate Spanish as an official language of the system. With the challenge quelled, the new regime is expected to begin in 2016.