Besides IP Consultants and experts from Portugal, Spain and Poland the meeting was attended by representatives of industry associations from Portugal (CIP) and Spain (CEOE). In the lively session for patents several serious flaws were pointed out to the European package:

1 – From the perspective of Portuguese industry, the unitary effect of a European patent does not provide any significant advantage since very few European patents are granted to residents in Portugal (0.05 % out of total grantings by the EPO in 2012) and that, on average, those patents are not validated in more than 4-5 EU countries.

2 – The unitary patent does not cover Spain, first destination of Portuguese exportations in the EU, therefore Portugal should never ratify the package before Spain. Also, the unitary effect will not cover Italy and Poland, countries that also oppose the project as it stands.

3 – The language regime would discriminate the Portuguese language in that Portuguese companies wishing to obtain a patent for unitary effect , would always have to provide EPO with a translation with legal value in English, French or German, whereas companies that use these 3 languages ​​would not be required to submit any translation with legal value.

4 – The new regime would force Portugal to give legal protection to unitary patents written in English, French or German, transferring the costs of translation from the owners of such patents to all companies or institutions in Portugal wishing to assess the risks of infringement of such patents.

5 – The UPC would create a private justice for holders of European patents, which are 96% of the patents annually protected in Portugal, emptying the recently created Intellectual Property Court of Lisbon of one of its core competences and hampering its specialization in patent law.

6 – If Portugal ratifies the UPC treaty, resident companies in Portugal shall be subject to be sued in a court outside the country (probably in Paris, London or Munich), composed of foreign judges, and the language of proceedings will not be Portuguese.

7 – The rules of UPC are unbalanced in favor of patent holders and the expected litigation costs will be huge and absolutely unaffordable for companies resident in Portugal, undermining the right to a fair and equitable process.