Bonum Certa Men Certa

“The Constitutional Problems Linked to the UPC are Far From Being Minor”

Summary: The situation is dire for the Unitary Patent in two of the most important participating countries

WHILE waiting to see if the German legal system will permit input (other than from the Federal Government, the German Bar Association, and EPLAW, the European Patent Lawyers Association) we observe comments about the UPC, including the typical lies from EPO management, which sets up dedicated "events" that are actually lobbying opportunities for the UPC, drowning out the signal (or facts) with noise and jingoism.



Last night somebody said that "one realises that the constitutional problems linked to the UPC are far from being minor." Here is the comment in full:



Not a word about the UPC in the position paper of the EC relating to Brexit. A UP is manifestly not an "Intellectual property right having unitary character within the Union", as the "Enhanced cooperation" does not apply to all member states.

The Unitary Patent is also not a right delivered by, or has has been submitted before an Union body in accordance with Union law, as the EPO is anything but a EU institution.

The more one thinks about this, the more one realises that the constitutional problems linked to the UPC are far from being minor. It is hight time to look at them.

Let's hope that the German Constitutional Court thinks about it, and forwards a question to the CJEU. Decisions of the CJEU can sometime be qualified of political, see the dismissal of the Spanish complaint, but here more fundamental aspects are at stake.



It's one of two similar but not identical comments. The latter said: "Does certainty mean we should forget the UPC? Not a word about the UPC in the document."

Here's the full comment from IP Kat (not the site's authorship, which is a CIPA-affiliated UPC booster, but a comment):

Certainty is the biggest problem to be solved when UK is leaving the EU.

Does certainty means we should forget the UPC?

Not a word about the UPC in the document. It is manifestly not an "Intellectual property right having unitary character within the Union", as the "Enhanced cooperation" does not apply to all member states.

The Unitary Patent is also not a right delivered by, or has has been submitted before an Union body in accordance with Union law, as the EPO is anything but a EU institution.

The more one thinks about this, the more one realises that the constitutional problems linked to the UPC are far from being minor. It is hight time to look at them.


"The UPC is effectively dead," I told Dr. Luke McDonagh about this tweet of his, "but nobody wants to say it."

"Bristows also helped propel this illusion of progress in Germany when people effectively cheated at 1AM in the morning."He wrote: "The EU position paper on unitary IP rights ignores the Unitary Patent Regulation. Is that because UPs don't exist... yet?"

It probably will never exist, but watch the comments from UPC boosters. They refuse to let go. "It's because everyone has forgotten about it," wrote of of these boosters, "2012 was a long time ago."

He then said: "Well, the UK still seems to be progressing it. The SI on privileges and immunities for Scotland was just published. But as for Germany..."

"Further attacks (discrediting attempts) on the complaint in Germany are certainly on their way."Well, Bristows claims "progress" in Scotland, citing something pretty irrelevant (us usual). We wrote about it last week. Bristows also helped propel this illusion of progress in Germany when people effectively cheated at 1AM in the morning.

When one lives inside the UPC echo chamber facts become "alternative facts". I discussed this further with him last night. Well, in spite of his UPC advocacy (back when he was in IP Kat and participated in UPC echo chamber events), he seems to acknowledge that Germany remains a barrier to the UPC. And I don't expect Team UPC to just give up any time soon. Further attacks (discrediting attempts) on the complaint in Germany are certainly on their way. Some behind the scenes, no doubt.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has Un-cancelled the Best People, Just in Time for the Big 4-0
Mr. Oliva should have been there all along (since 2019)
Most "Modern" Technology Makes You Slower and Dumber
Because proprietary software makes you worse off
"What Comes After Free Software?" Wrongly Insinuates We've Reached the Goal (Prison is Not the Goal)
The oil tycoons use similar tactics against environmentalists, giving them fake "wins"
Making More Work Space
I learned the hard way that less is more in circumstances where more means distraction
MAHA is a Lie, Public Officials Never Valued Citizens' Health (They Still Value Private Businesses, Their Sponsors)
Reject demagogues
New Techrights Turns 2
Today starts the third year of the SSG-based Techrights
What Scares Them the Most is Independent News Sites That They Cannot Control and Censor
Wikileaks was a good example of this
If You Don't Control Your Online Platform, Then Someone Else is Controlling You
be (or become) independent
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has a Policy on Racism and Sexism
In then future we'll show the misogyny and racial slurs
Links 22/09/2025: Murdochs Might Join Fentanylware (TikTok) 'Investors' (Masters), United Kingdom Recognises Palestinian Statehood
Links for the day
 
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part II - UK SLAPPs for Americans, SLAPPs for Profit
Brett Wilson LLP has a track record of this kind
Mayday: Optus emergency calling crisis
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 23/09/2025: Massive Data Breach, Slop Versus Productivity, and Vista 11 Update Breaks Things Again
Links for the day
Code of Censorship
Extortion is peace
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has a New Press Kit for the Weekend After Next Weekend (40th Anniversary)
miles better than social [sic] media [sic] quips, moderated by narcissists and oil tycoons.
Microsoft Had Two Waves of Mass Layoffs This Month (That We Know of) and It'll Get Worse for Microsoft Soon
Will the axe fall again by month's end?
Gemini Links 23/09/2025: Happy Equinox, Photronic Arts, and Perception Cognition
Links for the day
Lessons We've Learned After 17 Years of American Hosting
GAFAM is "all-in" with the "Trump agenda"
Back to Normal Now, We Plan to Do More In-Depth Series (or Multi-part Stories)
Articles (or series thereof) that contain philosophy are important to us
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 22, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 22, 2025
Microsoft Media is Panicking Amid Mass Layoffs Every Month, H-1B Fees, and "Seattle’s Tech Scene in Trouble"
In "late stage Microsoft", copyleft becomes proprietary
The Next Wave of IBM/Red Hat Layoffs Being Discussed Already
Red Hat is sort of disappearing the way Tivoli did
Oracle Started This Year With Slop. Then It Stopped.
Passing fads are like this
Distros That Run on PCs Made 20 Years Ago and Don't Use Systemd
Betas for now
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part I - Abusing British Women on Behalf of American Men Who Abuse American Women
Transparency is important to us, so we've decided to make this series
Slopwatch: Google News and the Evident Slopfarm Infestation
This is what people get about Linux when they query Google for Linux
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Esperanto Music History and Apps For Android
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: More American 'Censorship' (Retaliation for Journalism), Cheeto "Might Be Losing His Race Against Time"
Links for the day
The Blob Slop
Give me more words, give me some text
The 50-Pound Note Experiment and the "War on Cash"
Britain is actually seeing a rebound in cash payments, and it's not a temporary phenomenon
Slopwatch: Blaming the Victims for Microsoft's Failures and Plagiarising Phoronix
That's what Google has been reduced to: slop and slopfarms
Links 22/09/2025: Breaches, Windows TCO, and Arrests
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025