Volte-Face on the Unified Patent Court Agreement
Jane Lambert While hardly unexpected. the confirmation given yesterday to Joff Wild and others that "the UK will not be seeking involvement in the UP/UPC system." is nonetheless regrettable. No country stood to gain more from the Unified Parent Court and the unitary patent than the UK because it would have reduced considerably the costs of patent prosecution in Europe and patent enforcement in the UK. That is why both the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property and the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth urged HM government to push for a single European patent for the UK and other EU member states with a unified court for the resolution of disputes over such patents. The excuse given to Mr Wild and other journalists for this country's volte-face is that: "Participating in a court that applies EU law and bound by the CJEU is inconsistent with our aims of becoming an independent self-governing nation.” That was just as much