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UK formally abandons Europe's Unified Patent Court, Germany plans to move forward nevertheless:
The UK has formally ditched the Unified Patent Court (UPC), a project to create a single pan-European patent system that would fix the confusing mess of contradictory laws currently in place.
In a written statement in the House of Commons on Monday, the British undersecretary for science, research and innovation Amanda Solloway noted that: "Today, by means of a Note Verbale, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has withdrawn its ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court."
The reason is, of course Brexit. "In view of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, the United Kingdom no longer wishes to be a party to the Unified Patent Court system. Participating in a court that applies EU law and is bound by the CJEU would be inconsistent with the Government's aims of becoming an independent self-governing nation," she said.
[...] The whole idea of the UPC has been fought for over a decade now, making many its adherents borderline fanatical in making it a reality, even more so given frequent setbacks. In their unerring support, however, many seem willing to overlook or turn a blind eye to serious problems, not least of which is the mess that is the European Patent Office (EPO).
[...] The EPO is, of course, a big fan of the UPC and insists the UK leaving is a mere trifle to the larger European dream of a single patent system; a system that would give it significantly more power:
"These economic benefits for European companies and especially SMEs will not be affected by the announcement of the United Kingdom," it insisted in its submission to the German government.
"Even without the UK, the UP package will lead to significant simplification and cost reduction for the companies of the participating EU member states, which is also largely recognized by European companies."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by turgid on Saturday July 25 2020, @07:38PM
The Alt-Wrong propaganda Newspeak of the Kippers, Faragists and ERG has now made its way into actual government.
The UK was always self-governing (within the EU) as are the other 27 member countries.
As for independence, well, technically we were independent, as are the other 27 countries. They are "sovereign countries" and proud of it.
"Participating in a court that applies EU law and is bound by the CJEU..." See, that's one of the things about cooperating with other countries on things like trade, intellectual properties, food safety, environmental protection and so on, you need to agree a legal framework that everyone can accept and abide by. There are not imposed by some malevolent foreign dictators. These are agreements designed by, developed by, agreed by and implemented by cooperating partners, as equals, democratically. The EU, for example, provides quite an efficient and fair democratic system for such things.
Of course, this is all lost on the Kippers, Faragists, ERG and "patriot" types.
They'll get a shock when we (UK) do our "trade deal" with the USA where we essentially hand over some of our sovereignty to American courts and corporate lobbyists who will arbitrate in any trade disputes.
This is freedumb, dimocracy and British Sovereign Tea. Rule Britannia etc. Support for Scottish independence is now polling at 54% and rising.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].