Minister de Guindos answers the parliament’s motion by explaining that there are no plans to join the unitary patent and confirms the government’s opposition to the language regime.

A minister of the Spanish government has said that Spain is not likely to join the unitary patent in the foreseeable future.

Earlier this month the Spanish parliament’s committee for the economy, industry and competitiveness approved a motion requesting the government to re-examine the possibility of joining the unitary patent system.

Last week Luis de Guindos, Spain’s Minister of the Economy and Competitiveness, said during a session of the Spanish parliament that it is impossible for Spain to join the unitary patent system because of the language regime and because the government has doubts as to the legal protection it offers.

Mr de Guindos said that Spain was originally in favour of the creation of an EU-wide patent system, but that the language regime adopted for the unitary patent does not allow the use of Spanish, making the system discriminatory against Spanish-speaking companies.

A Spanish enterprise would be forced to translate its unitary patent applications into English, French or German. There would be a further disadvantage in having to avoid the infringement of unitary patents valid in Spain without a Spanish translation being available. Lastly, if a Spanish company were to defend itself in proceedings before the Unified patent court, it would likewise be forced to use a foreign language.