Unitary Patent: the Court of Justice Opens the Door to Software Patents

On May 5th, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union rendered its decisions on the appeals lodged by Spain against the unitary patent. Not surprisingly, the Court followed the conclusions of Advocate General Bot (in French) and approved the entirety of the package, in spite of the dangers it presents. April denounces a largely political decision, which did not take into account the important judicial criticisms leveled at the text, and which paves the way for a system favorable to software patents. April will remain vigilant, to ensure that, in spite of the open door to patent trolls, European developers, publishers, and users will be able to continue choosing free software, and, lastly, it calls on all countries that have not ratified the text to reject doing so.