Majority supports joining EU patent court

Two parties oppose joining the court, which is hoped to make defending patents in the EU easier

A majority of Danes would vote in favour of joining the EU patent court if the referendum were held today, according to a poll by Altinget.

Some 54 percent would vote in favour while 20 percent would vote against the referendum. Twenty-six percent have not decided how they will vote.

Patent holders in the EU risk having to defend their patents in each of the 28 EU countries, but the Unified Patent Court (UPC) would be a single body that they could turn to instead.

READ MORE: It’s official: Danes to vote on EU patent court

Businesses in favour
The UPC is supported by business groups who argue that the court would make it cheaper and easier for Danes to protect their inventions.

The government has acknowledged that letting the EU rule on Danish patents would be a violation of Danish sovereignty, however, meaning a five sixths parliamentary majority is needed in order to join.

But two parties oppose joining the court – Enhedslisten and Dansk Folkeparti – meaning that the government was unable to secure the necessary super majority.

READ MORE: Anti-EU parties call for referendums to brake integration

Referendum on May 25
As a result, a referendum will be held on May 25 – the same day as the European Parliament elections – in which a majority of Danes need to support Denmark's inclusion in the UPC in order for the country to join.

Despite the strong support for inclusion in the UPC from the public, six out of eight political parties, and the business community, Enhedslisten thinks that more Danes will end up opposing it once they realise its consequences.

“If we join the EU patent court, we will lose democratic and legal influence over our patents and I think Danes can follow that argument,” Nicolaj Villumsen (EL) told Altinget.

TOP STORIES

  • Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    China’s 12 leading wind turbine makers have signed a pact to end a domestic price war that has seen turbines sold at below cost price in a race to corner the market and which has compromised quality and earnings in the sector.

  • Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Novo Nordisk’s TV commercial for the slimming drug Wegovy has been shown roughly 32,000 times and reached 8.8 billion US viewers since June.

  • Retention is the new attraction

    Retention is the new attraction

    Many people every year choose to move to Denmark and Denmark in turn spends a lot of money to attract and retain this international talent. Are they staying though? If they leave, do they go home or elsewhere? Looking at raw figures, we can see that Denmark is gradually becoming more international but not everyone is staying. 

  • Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen attended the Association of the Unites States Army’s annual expo in Washington DC from 14 to 16 October, together with some 20 Danish leading defence companies, where he says Danish drone technology attracted significant attention.

  • Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors, pharmacies and politicians have voiced concern that the pharmaceutical industry’s inability to supply opioid prescriptions in smaller packets, and the resulting over-prescription of addictive morphine pills, could spur levels of opioid abuse in Denmark.

  • Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Residents of cooperative housing associations in Copenhagen and in Frederiksberg distribute vacant housing to their own family members to a large extent. More than one in six residents have either parents, siblings, adult children or other close family living in the same cooperative housing association.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs