In a meeting dated December 21, 2016, the General Council for the Judiciary agreed that from April 1, 2017 the competent courts for dealing with patent, design and trademark cases will be located in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia. The distribution of the cases will be done according to the territorial jurisdiction rules established in the new Spanish Patent Law 24/2015 that will enter into force on the same date.

In Barcelona, commercial courts 1, 4 and 5 will have exclusive jurisdiction for patent and design cases, whereas commercial courts 2, 6, 8 and 9 will hear trademark cases. In Madrid, commercial courts 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 will have exclusive jurisdiction for patents, designs and trademarks. Finally, in Valencia, commercial court 2 will have exclusive jurisdiction for patents, and commercial courts 1 and 3 will have exclusive jurisdiction for designs and trademarks.

With the concentration of hearings in the above courts, the judicial specialization sought in the explanatory memorandum of the Law is accomplished.