New UPC complaints filed in Germany

Managing IP is part of Legal Benchmarking Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Legal Benchmarking Limited and its affiliated companies 2025

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

New UPC complaints filed in Germany

germany-fcc-600-2.jpg

Germany’s top constitutional court confirms it has received two complaints regarding the UPC Agreement

Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court has confirmed it has received two complaints against the country’s Unified Patent Court legislation.

In a statement sent to Managing IP, the court confirmed: “Regarding the Act on the Agreement of February 13 2013 on a Unified Patent Court, two constitutional complaints have been filed and are pending.”

However, the statement added that a decision date was not known. Neither the identity of the plaintiffs nor the grounds of the complaints are currently available.

In March this year, a long-awaited FCC ruling declared that the act approving the UPCA had not been signed off by a required two-thirds majority in the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament. That ruling was based on a complaint filed in 2017 by German lawyer Ingve Stjerna. 

At the end of November this year, the Bundestag approved the act with the necessary qualified majority.

The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), a group that opposes software patents, has been urging its community of followers to donate to a crowdsourced fund to help launch a new legal challenge.

The FFII and Stjerna have not responded to requests for comment about whether they are behind either of the new complaints.

At the moment, it is not clear if the FCC will accept the filings and German ratification of the UPC will be delayed again.

Managing IP will provide more analysis in due course.

To view our recent UPC coverage, click on the links below:

German Federal Constitutional Court declares UPC approval void

UPC is ‘a done deal’, say IP counsel

Confirmed: UK to shun unitary patent and UPC

UPC: In-house wary despite flicker of hope

more from across site and ros bottom lb

More from across our site

The firm is keen to expand and tap into new market talent, with the UPC one area of focus
A complaint by the European Commission over China’s SEP practices and news of a new president at Nokia Technologies were among the top talking points this week
Brian Rosenthal explains how he and his team secured a rare directed verdict of non-infringement from Texas judge Alan Albright
US sources say they’ve had positive experiences working with Coke Morgan Stewart, and that her past experience at the office means there'll be no nasty surprises
At least four firms have made investments in transactional IP lawyers to help push deals in the life sciences and other tech sectors over the line
Louis Ederer, who worked at Arnold & Porter for 18 years, says he was excited to go back to a place where he already knew a lot of people
Practitioners and law firms should keep their eyes peeled as the shortlist for our annual Awards is set to be released
Shoosmiths, which hired a six-person IP team from Locke Lord to kick-start the year, says it is not finished there
The USPTO’s latest search tool has improved since it was first launched, though counsel still have to take care when trying to get optimal results for their clients
Scott Palmer, who took 16 lawyers with him when he moved from Perkins Coie to Loeb & Loeb, reveals how his Beijing-based team has hit the ground running
Gift this article