Statement on the Unified Patent Court Referendum
Ibec, the group the represents Irish business, today welcome the announcement that the referendum to ratify Ireland’s participation will be held this year.
Aidan Sweeney, Ibec’s Head of Enterprise and Regulatory Affairs said: “Ireland is legally required to hold a referendum to ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement, which would provide significant benefits to Irish businesses. Ireland’s 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.”
“Ireland stands to gain significantly through participating in this specialist pan-European court system. A conservative estimate of the value add to the Irish economy for our participation in the UPC could be worth as much as €1.663bn per annum. Ireland is uniquely positioned to establish itself on the international stage as a patent enforcement hotspot. Doing so could yield very substantial gains for the wider Irish economy, gains that would go far beyond an increase in legal services.”
“There is a clear business case for Ireland’s participation in the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court. We look forward to campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum, which is to be held alongside the local and European elections in June”, he concluded.
