Denmark to hold referendum on UPC

Denmark has announced it will hold a referendum to determine whether to join the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

The referendum was announced after Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt failed to get a constitutional majority in parliament in support of joining.

The Danish People's Party and Red-Green Alliance indicated they did not support proposals to join the system, meaning a sufficient majority will not be obtained to pass a bill approving the plans.

Denmark is one of five countries in the EU to have an opt-out clause on certain EU legislation; it maintains control over aspects of its justice and home affairs legislation.

When, as in this case, a proposed law gives up constitutional authority to European institutions, 80 percent of MPs in parliament must back it in order to avoid a referendum. In this case, a referendum would need to take place before next June.

The referendum is scheduled for May 25 next year and Peter Ulrik-Plesner, partner at Plesner in Copenhagen, said he hoped the proposals would be backed.

“I think all professionals in Denmark believe we will better off joining the UPC and the new system from the start,” Ulrik-Plesner said.

“We did not join the European Patent Convention when it was set-up in the 1970s and only joined in the 1990s. This means we had 12 years out of the system and professionals were not fully up to speed upon joining.

“If you are involved from the very start you have all the information to follow what happens but can also make the best out of it by raising our voice in relation to rules of procedure.”

The UPC is designed to make patent litigation easier and cheaper within the EU and would have its headquarters in Paris, Munich and London. A public consultation on the 15th draft of its rules of procedure finished on October 1.