Referendum on Unified Patent Court in Ireland

According to the EUobserver, junior minister Sean Sherlock has confirmed that Ireland will have to hold a referendum before ratifying the agreement on a Unified Patent Court. TheJournal notes that Ireland's Supreme Court requires a referendum for any transfer of judicial powers to an international body.

The Unified Patent Court will entail such a transfer. Apart from unitary patents, the unified patent court will also be competent for 'regular' European Patents, i.e., without unitary effect. Once a European Patent has been granted it has the same effect as a national patent in the contracting states, including Ireland.

Can Spain or Italy change their mind, and join the Unitary patent?


At the moment, unitary patents will not be valid for Spain and Italy. Could these countries still change their minds?