European Patent System: Failures in Constitutional Design Crippling Essential Safeguards against Adverse Economic Effects

The key constitutional issue surrounding the unitary patent system is the complete loss of national and the EU’s sovereignty in the context of industrial property and hence, use of technology – that is unprecedented. This context concerns the entire range of technological sectors including those essential for state systems and actual economic activity of individuals, such as medicines, renewable energy, software, cybersecurity, and military defence. The complete loss of sovereignty means total lack of control or direct democratic influence on the obligations and monopolistic rights that unitary patent law will determine. More seriously, the loss of sovereignty means that there will be no national or EU institution that can protect EU-based businesses and citizens against predatory litigation and any undesirable development and consequences of the law that alien unitary institutions may impose on them.