News
New paper in Geoforum
21 Nov 2025
Geography of Patent Law: An Institutional Model of Variation and Convergence of Judicial Beliefs
The Unified Patent Court was created to harmonize patent enforcement across Europe: one court, one framework, less legal fragmentation. But early on, a familiar tension resurfaces: even with uniform rules, different judicial backgrounds and legal cultures can still pull decisions in different directions. In their new paper, Marius Zipf, Prof. Johannes Glückler, Prof. Emmanuel Lazega and Dr. Jakob Hoffmann explore the mechanisms behind legal variation and convergence from an institutional perspective, utilizing the concept of judicial beliefs.
Looking at the structurally equivalent German patent litigation system, the authors find that variation is shaped by judicial beliefs – the institutionalized understandings of law that judges develop about how patent law should work. And these beliefs can pull the system in two opposite directions: toward local divergence or toward national convergence.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with elite judges from Germany’s three major patent courts (Düsseldorf, Mannheim, Munich), the authors identify three central elements that influence the institutionalization of judicial beliefs:
Career socialization: Judges internalize shared legal understandings through training stages, mentorships, and work at higher courts.
Collegial deliberation: Judges align interpretations by exchanging views in networks, committees, conferences, and legal publications.
Judicial abrogation: Higher courts correct or override lower-court decisions, steering jurisprudence toward a common interpretation.
Based on this knowledge, the authors propose an institutional model that helps to better understand the mechanisms contributing to variation and convergence of judicial beliefs – insights that are important to know when it comes to understanding how the UPC actually works!
As Europe’s Unified Patent Court grows into its role, the German experience shows: consistency won’t come from rules alone. It will depend on fostering shared judicial beliefs across borders and legal cultures. Transparency, exchange, and strong appellate guidance will be essential if Europe wants a predictable, innovation-friendly patent system.