Scotland can still stake a claim to be home of European patent court

The group is urging justice secretary Kenny MacAskill to take urgent steps to attract the European Unitary Patents Court (UPC) which would give a much-needed boost to the legal sector as well as patent-heavy industries such as life sciences and renewables.

Gill Grassie, a partner and head of IP and technology with Maclay Murray & Spens, said that locating the court in Scotland would bring “significant benefit for innovative enterprises in Scotland and in the UK as a whole”, and that location outside the UK would “seriously disadvantage” British businesses.

Grassie claims only Germany has thrown its hat into the ring to be the location of the new court, the establishment of which is currently the subject of Europe-wide infighting.

Last week the council of the European Parliament agreed to create a cross-Europe unitary patent, with the aim of cutting patent costs for firms by as much as 80 per cent and boosting EU competitiveness. But the plan, which has been 30 or 40 years in the making, has been stymied by difficulties around what languages the court will use.

Grassie said the EU’s desire to choose a location of the court by next month was “far too ambitious” as the parliament had agreed to forge all three aspects of the law – the common patent, the language regime and the location of the court – as a “package”, which meant there was still time for Scotland to bid.

She said: “It is not just where the court could be – which could be Germany by default because no-one else has come forward. There is still a lot of issues around how the new patent system would work before they decide on the overall package.”

A spokesman for Scottish Government welcomed the campaign but remained non-committal.

He said: “The Scottish Government is proud of our distinct legal heritage and committed to having a modern robust justice system fit for the 21st century. We will continue to monitor developments with interest.”