Unitary patent: Poland could leave the vessel, the European institutions still in denial

Only a few days before the debate and vote on the proposed unitary patent on December 10th and 11th, 2012, new information is still coming to reinforce further the project's lack of any viability:

• The Polish Parliament has just asked the Polish government to get out of the unitary-patent agreement, because it considers the latter dangerous for businesses1.
• In parallel, a demonstration organized by No Patents On Seeds brought together more than 500 people in front of the the European Patent Office in Munich to protest against the project2. This international organization especially emphasizes the excessive powers granted to the EPO and the lack of any democratic control over the future of the unitary patent3.
• The resolution proposed by April has received, from companies from all over Europe, over 600 signatures, which were sent to all MEPs on December 7th, 2012.
• Other economic players are also mobilizing. OpenForum Europe4, for instance, asked MEPs to review the text and to take the time required to study it in order not to stifle innovation5.
• One MEP, Eva Lichtenberger, wrote an open letter to all her colleagues to inform them of these dangers.

Despite these numerous stands, from public players but also from companies and individuals, the European institutions continue to bury their head in the sand and to claim that the case creates a consensus in its favour. In the face of such denial, it is therefore crucial to raise MEPs' awareness on the dangers of this text and on the multiplicity of the players mobilized against it.

The unitary patent is, in its current version, a dangerous text: it provides little legal security, threatens SMEs, is harmful to innovation, and is toxic for users and developers of Free Software. It must therefore be reviewed and improved to achieve its goals. Amendments – compromise amendments n° 76 and 74 – exist and have been submitted to achieve these goals. Contact MEPs now, more than ever, to raise their awareness before the vote on the text, on Tuesday, December 11th, 2012!

em>This news was published on April's website.

• 1. For further information, see http://di.com.pl/news/47112,0,Jednolity_Patent_to_samobojstwo_Rzad_nie_chcial_by_poslowie_to_dostrzegli-Marcin_Maj.html (in Polish).
• 2. For further information, see http://www.keine-gentechnik.de/news-gentechnik/news/de/26778.html" (in German)
• 3. For further information, see for instance http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/information/news/stop-eu-unitary-patent
• 4. Openforum Europe (OFE) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation supported by major IT suppliers including Deloitte, Google, IBM, Oracle and Red Hat, as well as SMEs, user and consumer organisations, and national partners across Europe.
• 5. OpenForum Europe's press release: http://www.openforumeurope.org/press-room/press-releases/patent%20press%20release%20pm.mb.pm.js.pm.7.12.12.pdf(in English).