The route to a unitary patent right in the EU has been somewhat
contrived to date. Nonetheless, the envisaged Regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council implementing enhanced
cooperation in the area of the creation of unitary patent
protection reached another milestone, when the outgoing Danish
Presidency managed to establish the location of the
Unified Patent Court (UPC). However, Denmark still fell short of
delivering a final decision on the EU Unitary Patent; and we
now wait to see whether Cyprus, during their July – December
2012 Presidency, can overcome the outstanding issues hampering the
establishment of a unitary patent right. The locating of the
UPC suggests that the political hurdles associated with the
Regulation have now been largely circumvented, and there appears to
be some certitude toward the establishment of a unitary patent
right in the EU.
