The Unitary Patent Protection – A Voice in the Discussion from the Polish Perspective

Abstract

At the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 legal regulations introduced the unitary patent protection. These regulations crown over 50 years of efforts and work aimed at creating, from a territorial point of view, a unitary patent system within the framework of the European Union as well as a centralized judicial system. Although Poland in 2010 was among the initiators of establishing enhanced cooperation in the domain of creating unitary patent protection, it did not sign the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court, either on 19 February 2013 or at later dates. This resulted from the fact that the issue of the European patent with unitary effect has become a widely known subject of public discussion and has, and still does, stir debate over questions of its legitimacy and also its economic effects on Poland. In the course of the continual debate, the supporters and the opponents adduce arguments for and against the legitimacy of adopting the so-called “patent package”. This article is intended to be a contribution in the substantive discussion referring to the legitimacy of adopting the European patent with unitary effect from the Polish perspective.