JUDGMENT OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE IN CASE KINGDOM OF SPAIN V COUNCIL – TRANSLATION ARRANGEMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE UNITARY PATENT

Abstract

The paper deals with the judgment of the European Court of Justice in Case Kingdom of Spain v Council from 5 May 2015. The efforts on establishing the unified system of patent protection in Europe had begun just after the creation of the European Communities, but it was only in December 2012 when the unitary patent package was finally adopted. It consisted of three components: Regulation implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of the unitary patent protection, Regulation implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the creation of the unitary patent protection with regard to the applicable translation arrangements and Agreement on a Unified Patent Court. Two Regulations entered into force in January 2013 and its implementation will started when the Agreement comes into force. In the meantime, the Kingdom of Spain brought two actions against these regulations. The focus of this article is on the second one against the Regulation on the unitary patent protection with regard to the applicable translation arrangements. After introductory notes with regard to efforts on establishing unitary patent protection, the first part of the article is devoted to the translation arrangements provided by the Regulation. The second part is dedicated to the action which relies on five pleas in law. The judgment of European Court of Justice, by which the action was dismissed in its entirety, is presented in the third part of the article.