Irish businesses seek patent clarity

Ibec, the group that represents Irish business, has called on Government to officially commit to holding a referendum on the Unified Patent Court on the same day as next year’s local and European elections, in order to provide much needed clarity on the issue for business and other stakeholders.

The new Unified Patent System went live on June 1, 2023. Ireland is legally required to hold a referendum to ratify the UPC Agreement, which would provide significant benefits to Irish business.

Aidan Sweeney, Ibec Head of Enterprise & Regulatory Affairs said: “The Unified Patent Court is opening its doors for business across Europe. The new unitary patent system is a one-stopshop for patent protection and enforcement across the EU, which dramatically reduces costs for businesses seeking to secure rights to innovations, and if neces - sary, where to enforce those rights. However, companies based in Ireland will not be able to fully benefit from the new pan-European patent system until we hold the long-awaited referendum on the matter.

“The court is now up and running, the new system is live. Government must now provide much needed certainty to business by announcing that the referendum will be held in line with next year’s local and Euro - pean elections. Full Irish participation in the new system will help grow our patent-intensive sectors, improve our innovation performance, help scale indigenous and founder-led companies and help us compete for new inward investment.

“The referendum is needed to allow us to set up a Local Division of the Unified Patent Court in Ireland. Irish companies will then be able to enforce their European property rights once