The Impact of the European Patent System on SMEs and National States and the Advent of Unitary Patent

(2020) 36(1) Prometheus – Critical Studies In Innovation 51-68

33 Pages Posted: 9 Jun 2020

See all articles by Dimitris Xenos

Dimitris Xenos

European Public Law Organisation

Date Written: March 1, 2020

Abstract

A centralized and federal patent system in the EU changes economic and constitutional law structures by creating a ‘nationalized’ international patent. As the underlying economic policy has concentrated on the development needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), accounting for 99% of all businesses in Europe, statistical analysis and data of their patenting activity and patent ownership are used to assess whether the new regime can help or hinder SMEs and the states in which they are based. Due consideration is given to the monopoly effect of patents and the adversarial nature of the judicial, federal system that is introduced in the absence of a federation of states. Although there are always costs and benefits in such a system, new legal/institutional developments amplify existing imbalances in technological and economic capacities between and within member states, and between them and non-EU states.

Note: This is the original manuscript version.

Keywords: SMEs, EPO, UPC, unified patent court, unitary patent, IP, monopolies, democratic governance, EU, economic development, market failures

JEL Classification: D42, D63, D61, D70, D73, I12, I31, J71, K19, K32, K33, L12, P37

Suggested Citation

Xenos, Dimitris, The Impact of the European Patent System on SMEs and National States and the Advent of Unitary Patent (March 1, 2020). (2020) 36(1) Prometheus – Critical Studies In Innovation 51-68, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3600384

Dimitris Xenos (Contact Author)

European Public Law Organisation ( email )

Cardiff School of Management
Llandaff Campus, Western Avenue
Cardiff, CF5 2YB
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://bit.ly/40cAQDH

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