Now that, despite all legal, political and economic issues, the European Parliament has approved the regulation on the unitary patent, just as anticipated, it is time to move away from the legislative battle. The unitary patent has still a long way to go before becoming applicable. It is likely that it will be nothing more than a stillborn child. Meanwhile, the threat is hovering over European innovation and growth. It is time now to see whether and how Gandalf's magical powers can overcome the dark forces of Mordor.

Paris, December 11th, 2012. Press Release. – On Tuesday December 11th, 2012, the European Parliament voted for the regulation on the unitary patent: Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have eventually accepted the text despite all legal, economic and political concerns over which we had warned them1.

• 1. See the amendments APRIL had suggested to this end.

On the eve of European Parliament plenary vote on the unitary patent regulation, Ericsson, Nokia and BAE have written to Members of the European Parliament, asking them to reject the text. The reason put forward by these major European firms is that the current text would do more harm than good to European business.

Now that all amendments and the voting list have been published, it is quite easy to anticipate what will happen on Tuesday December 11th, 2012, during the plenary vote of the European Parliament (EP) on the unitary patent regulation. Nevertheless few people would find a way to understand what will exactly be voted. And it is likely that the vast majority of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) won't know themselves what is hiding behind the buttons they will push on. So here's the story behind shiny amendments numbers.

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.

• 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).

The plenary regarding the unitary patent is looming, with the deadline for amendments tabled in less than 24 hours, on Wednesday, Dec 5th 2012 at noon.

As Eva Lichtenberger (Greens/EFA) recently sent a letter to her fellow MEPs, asking them to take to time to actually discuss the patent package before pushing it forwards, April compiled the agenda for the next steps on the dossier, in order to emphasize the need for postponement of the vote and for a real debate on the current patent package.

Eva Lichtenberger, a Green/EFA Member of the European Parliament, sent on Tuesday, Dec 4th 2012 an open letter to all MEPs, warning them of the threat posed by the unitary patent and asking them to postpone the vote, in order to have a real debate and ensure the legality of the patent package.

While the regulation on the unitary patent is about to be voted by the European Parliament during its plenary session on December 11th 2012, its content is deceiving. It is crucial that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are made aware of issues surrounding the unitary patent. We are proposing here a set of questions that MEPs should have in mind in order to vote in accordance with theirs convictions.

Paris, November 28th, 2012. Press release. – On Monday, November 26th, 2012, the legal affairs (JURI) Committee of the European Parliament held an exchange of views with the legal services1 on the legality of the Cypriot compromise on the unitary patent regulation. Once again, the illegalities of the project have been made obvious, but nonetheless the European Parliament seems decided to go forward. April calls for a re-examination of the text and the possibility to amend it, to ensure legal certainty.

• 1. The video of the exchange and a transcript are available on unitary-patent.eu.

During the meeting of the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) of the European Parliament, on Monday, November 26th, 2012, the legal services of the European Parliament have confirmed some “reservation” about the legality of the last version of the regulation, as proposed by the Cyprus presidency of the EU Council. Moreover, some doubts have been raised about the competence of the Court of Justice of the European Union to rule on the patentability of software.