Monday, May 26, 2014 Denmark votes in favor of unitary patent

In the Danish referendum last Sunday, Denmark has voted clearly in favor of the unitary patent.  The final results show that 60.45 percent voted for the unitary patent and the unified patent court, and 36.19 percent voted against. 

The full story is in the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende. Look for the words 'Enhedspatent' (unitary patent), 'patentdomstolen' (patent court) and 'ja' (yes).



Although it had previously been forecast that Denmark would vote in favor, supporters of the unitary patent court were nevertheless worried that the referendum could have resulted in a popularity contest for the current government. Apparently, they are not so popular. It seems votes against the new court came mainly from the Euro skeptic camp.


I wonder if this means that Denmark will try to join the Nordic regional court after all. Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have announced that they will from a regional division of the Unified Patent Court. Denmark now has the option to go alone, by establishing a local division or to join the Nordic court. As Denmark had been mentioned in this list before this referendum came up, I would guess that this option is now back on the table.

Monday, January 27, 2014 Will Denmark vote in favour of unitary patent?

As reported earlier, Denmark will hold a referendum to decide their participation in the unified patent court and unitary patent.

The decision is important for many reasons. Of course, Denmark would provide one more signature under the agreement, towards the goal of 13. So participation of Denmark makes the unitary patent more likely for all of us. More importantly, although Denmark may be one of the smaller EU countries it is nevertheless an important economy of the EU, the 11th in size. I consider part of the value of the future unitary patent to be its completeness. The ability to secure Europe with comparatively little overhead is definitely one of it selling point. It is already a pity that some countries are not joining, e.g., Spain, Poland, and Italy.


Moreover, there have been plans to create one large regional divisional of the unified patent court (UPC), that would serve the entire Nordic region.  Such a Nordic court could take infringement and revocation decision in first instance for Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and the Baltic states. If Denmark were to drop out, that would make this prospect much less appealing.

Having a single court that can decide on patent matters for most countries, instead of having expensive fragmented decisions, or the prospect of a more valuable European patent apparently appeals to the Danish population as well; According to a recent poll, the population of Denmark would vote in favor of joining the unitary patent.  If the referendum were held today, and not on May 25, 56% would vote in favor of the unitary patent. I'll keep my fingers crossed until then. 


See latest news: Denmark votes in favor of unitary patent