After Spain loses, Italy falls into line: unitary patent package edges closer

Italy falls into line.  Via our friend and former guest Kat Alberto Bellan comes news which will be of the greatest interest and importance to those following developments concerning the gradual crystallisation of the European Union's plans for a single patent.  Via the official website of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, here, and carefully translated by Alberto, this news emerged on 13 May:

"The unitary patent is a priority for the Ministry of Economic Development. After the CJEU's decision of 5 May [noted by the IPKat here; discussed further here and here] that rejected Spain's claims, we have confirmation that that the Unitary Patent Package's legal framework is not under discussion.

The Ministry of Economic Development believes that Italy's being part of the Unitary Patent Package is in line with the interests of a country that bets on innovation and internationalisation of its enterprises and that wants to consequently assure more timely and uniform protection on an European level to anyone who invests in research, development, innovation, and therefore to those that patent. Further, the new system should favour battle against counterfeit on a transnational level and consequently help foreign investments in our country".

That is what the Deputy Secretary of  The Ministry of Economic Development Ms Simona Vicari has declared today, during the Meeting of Interministerial Committee for European Affairs. 

"Having an office of the Unified Patent Court in Italy will allow our enterprises to have a Court in the national territory for the protection of their interests also in Italian language, not forgetting that if we join the Package now we will still hope to have a voice in the systems related to the Unitary Patent renewal and their distribution, and to ask more support for our SME", 

the Government representative concluded.

Nearly a week earlier, on 7 May, European Patent Office President Benoît Battistelli was carrying out his own charm offensive in the wake of the CJEU's decisions when he declared to ANSA (the most important Italian news agency):

Has Italy now pasta point
of no return ...?

"I hope Italy will reconsider its position and decide to join", as if "it stays outside, it penalises its enterprises regarding costs, bureaucracy, legal protections and research.  I am very happy with this CJEU decision because it confirms under all legal standpoints the Unitary Patent's characteristics and rejects all claims. I know that the Renzi Government is considering the issue, and I hope therefore that the CJEU's decision helps the adoption of a favourable decision for the Italian and European Economy". 

Not joining the Unitary patent package, Battistelli continued, could "be a brake to Italians and foreigners wishing to develop research centres in Italy". 

Thanks so much, Alberto!  Now it seems that the legal challenges to the new system are coming to an end but, as Merpel suggests, the biggest challenge of all remains -- the challenge of making this unknown, untried, hybrid system work in practice. The patent-granting and administration work is the easy bit: all depends on the functionality of the Unified Patent Court.