Patent Court, SMEs like it. But 80% don't know there is an office in Milan

More prepared to respond on the unitary patent, which has become 'common practice'. But less well-informed about the new Unitary Patent Court, which has begun to settle patent disputes in Europe. It is a cross-section of knowledge between light and shade that emerges from a broad market survey among innovative Italian small and medium-sized enterprises promoted by the law firm Trevisan & Cuonzo on the subject of patents, and carried out by the company Metrica Ricerche. Results were presented yesterday in Rome at an event organised by Conflavoro at the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy with the intervention of Minister Adolfo Urso.

According to the survey, 96% of the legal and management directors of the Italian companies surveyed have heard of the unitary patent and the Unitary Patent Court, yet 60% claim to have no in-depth knowledge of how it works. In general, one out of two companies is inclined to use only the unitary patent as a protection tool in the near future, compared to 35% of companies who instead say they intend to file both unitary and traditional patents, as the case may be. The Tub (Unitary Patent Court), on the other hand, is spontaneously mentioned by 65% of respondents who recognise it as an alternative jurisdiction to national courts for patent litigation. More than 98% of the companies gave a positive assessment of the Tub's increased speed in issuing measures with a wide gap compared to other potentially cited advantages. However, eight out of ten companies (about 80%) know little or nothing about the recent opening of the third Central Division of the Tub in Milan - officially inaugurated on 1 July but scheduled to open in June 2023 - which only 14% perceive as a very positive 'value' for the region, Lombardy in particular.

In order to get the most truthful view of the 'state of the art', a representative sample of 200 Italian companies with at least one patent (84.5%) in various product sectors, such as food (28%), clothing (18.5%), pharmaceuticals (11.5%), electronics (9.5%) and engineering (7.5%), with an annual turnover between EUR 10 and 50 million, were involved in the survey. Companies that market patented products (92.5 per cent) or intend to protect at least one product with a patent in the next two years (27 per cent) or that have been involved in patent litigation (9 per cent) were also involved in the survey. The distribution over the entire national territory is homogeneous, 58% in Northern Italy and 42% in Central and Southern Italy, of which 22.5% operate only domestically, 76% in Italy and Europe, and 1.5% also in the rest of the world. The research revealed that these companies in more than half of the cases (56.5%) have in-house personnel capable of effectively interacting with foreign patent professionals.

The TUB, which will come into force on 1 June 2023, with a Local Division office also in Milan, represents the crowning achievement of the project around the unitary patent, desired by Europe since 2012 to make the patent system easier, economically less burdensome and more efficient, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, in all EU member states. The Tub will have a specific, political-economic weight for Italy, as one of the three headquarters of the Central Division will now be based in the Lombard capital, alongside those in Paris and Munich. Thanks to the Tub, companies based in the 17 countries that have ratified the agreement will automatically enjoy greater protection, i.e. without additional charges and costs.

"One year after the unitary patent came into force, the opening of the Tub in Italy opens up new horizons and makes our country central in Europe. The estimated 350 million induced revenue is good,' points out Roberto Capobianco, national president of Conflavoro, 'but even better is to become a reference point for a new patent system that is fundamental for the entire business community. Now, institutions, associations and professionals, we must together make companies aware of the upcoming challenges, informing them as best we can about the opportunities to reduce costs and administrative complexities when it comes to European patents and possible litigation. These innovations are also important for the production chain, and not only for those who materially own patents, because once they are up and running they will translate into greater legal certainty, swifter decisions and thus more secure business plans, and the possibility to invest in development and innovation with greater peace of mind'.