Italy edges towards UPC approval

Italy’s government has reportedly approved the draft bill to ratify the Unified Patent Court (UPC).

The  government will now pass on the bill to the parliament, which must vote on it to ensure the ratification becomes effective.

According to Trevisan & Cuonzo lawyer Valerio Meucci, the minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Paolo Gentiloni, proposed the approval of the draft bill, which the government accepted.

“A rapid ratification of the agreement will allow Italy’s full participation in the enhanced cooperation on the European patent with unitary effect,” an accompanying press release said.

It added: “This further phase of the development of the single market will allow Italian innovative businesses to benefit from a single patent valid throughout the EU and assisted by a supranational unitary and specialised jurisdiction.”

For the UPC to be implemented, 13 countries—including France, the UK and Germany—need to ratify the agreement.

So far, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Finland and Sweden have ratified the agreement.