German courts declare UPC Agreement process unconstitutional

The German Federal Constitutional Court has declared the law for German accession to the Unified Patent Court to be unconstitutional.

The decision means current plans for the pan-European court will need to be reassessed. The court upheld an appeal about the compatibility of the ratification law for the Unified Patent Court Agreement with the German Basic Law. It declared the ratification law as unconstitutional and, therefore, void.

The court said that the Second Chamber of the German Bundestag did not pass the Act of Approval to the UPC with the two thirds majority required for amendments to the German constitution.

The court’s press release on the decision, in English, is here.

CIPA plans to talk to members, government and other stakeholders about the ramifications of the decision, the recent news that the UK will not seek to participate in the system and what this all means for the future of patent litigation in Europe.

Date Published: 20 March 2020