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 SHARED ros bottom lb

More from across our site

Deals between five more law firms and President Trump and an antitrust lawsuit against Amgen were also among the top talking points this week
US counsel explain how they win new cleantech IP business and how they’re navigating the industry’s challenges
Leaders at the IP firms, which have joined forces with backing from a PE investor, share their vision of building the number one pan-European IP practice
Firms will steer clients towards other ways of getting quicker examinations, but fear the ramifications of the USPTO’s decision
Melissa Haapala added that returning to client advocacy and the chance to work on patent litigation were reasons for returning to private practice
Michelle Clark, who has a generalist litigation background, plans to focus on IP disputes at Alston & Bird
Philips and Vivo have entered into a licensing agreement, putting an end to a five-year-old telecom SEP dispute in India
Stefan Müller discusses managing deadlines, the importance of reflection, and why IP is more than just a 'nice to have'
The three founders of the IP firm’s new US offering say they plan to offer a unique proposition in a market fixated by the billable hour
The opinion provides useful guidance when it comes to how courts might consider contributory infringement, DMCA claims, and other issues in AI copyright cases
Gift this article