Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We are looking forward to the debate and I am interested to see what exotic creatures emerge on the "No" side and what those arguments might be. It will probably be the least-challenging job the Electoral Commission will have over the next period. The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, stated earlier in his contribution that the original commitment was signed by the State in 2013. The idea has been around now for a long time. It has been on the agenda of successive Governments and we are finally here. While I might remark that they speak of little else in Termonfeckin than the patent court system, I do not mean to be obtuse because this actually is important. It is not the abstract idea it appears to be. It is technical and complex but it is not abstract. The adoption of these streamlined processes will be very important to give business certainty but also to ensure Ireland continues to be a recognised centre for research and development and innovation, because that is where our future lies, and that we take the high road with quality jobs and innovation, research and development in industry. This week, I met - as I do quite frequently - with senior leaders in Enterprise Ireland which is an incredibly impressive and important State agency. We talk a lot in this Chamber and elsewhere about the important of foreign direct investment in our country and it is important and will remain an important feature of our industrial strategy. However, what we tend to talk less about is the significance of the kinds of industries supported by Enterprise Ireland and the kinds of high-value, productive jobs for which entrepreneurs in the export space supported by Enterprise Ireland are responsible. We can never take that for granted. Innovation, research and development and how we support that is really important, and intellectual property and patents generally are very important for business and enterprise models and for future jobs. I am glad the Minister of State mentioned the issue around Ireland's involvement in the EU space programme and so on. People often dismiss research and development as something abstract and something that does not matter. It must be remembered that when you are actually researching one thing, you might find you have a solution to something else and that this solution can then be commercialised. You might not necessarily be addressing an economic issue but you are addressing a social problem as well sometimes. That is what innovators and entrepreneurs do. This is a really important proposition for Ireland and the Labour Party welcomes the publication of the legislation on the discourse we are having - I will not call it a debate - this afternoon on this.

With the Unified Patent Court already operational in 17 of 26 member states since June last year, we acknowledge that Ireland has been playing catch-up on this. Of the 25 signatory members, Ireland is one of six signatory states yet to enact the UPC. Considering the gravity of what is at stake and the potential knock-on consequences to fundamental economic stability, we must ensure our full participation is not left waiting or wanting. The passing of this legislation and the subsequent amendment can make a huge and material different to our economy and society. Previously, the processing of patents required to be applied and enforced on a state-by-state basis. The passing of the European Patent Convention in 1978 at least reduced the applications to a single application but did not do anything on enforcement. Currently, a patent granted by the European Patent Office giving effect on paper across all member states, requires the person granted the patent to then validate that patent in each country. Obviously, this can be prohibitively costly especially for smaller entities or individuals and that is just registration and recognition. We have to be mindful of all of this and how important this would be to high-potential startups and innovative companies here. Ireland relies on national legislation by way of the 1992 Patents Act but no patent court relies on the commercial court to manage disputes and a litigant must file disputes in each member state individually. This is obviously prohibitive to small companies or individuals as it requires in-depth and extensive legal knowledge and support - and indeed reach - to enforce an IP claim across the EU and beyond. The protection of intellectual property is especially important to Ireland as home to many of the world's leading global corporates in the tech, pharma, medical devices and biotech sectors. These are all fundamental sectors to our economic well-being and providing participation in the patent court is essential to maintaining and growing engagement in these sectors.

It is estimated that the passage of this amendment would pave the way for an injection of €1.6 billion annually into the economy. It is certain that for research and development activity, to facilitate co-operation in patent registration and enforcement is essential. It is not merely of benefit to large multinationals but is also crucial to small individual firms, to innovative entrepreneurs involved in high-potential start-ups and so on.

UK litigation firms have welcomed the proposal that Ireland will host a local division of the court to facilitate streamlined English language and common law litigation on intellectual property here. The opportunities for Ireland are huge. Some of the world's largest players in the IP law area have opened offices here on the back of these EU changes to IP protection and our home-grown legal expertise has been recognised as having world leaders in the field with three Irish firms winning industry prizes for IP work last year.

A constitutional amendment is required to ratify the UPCA because Article 34.1 of the Constitution states that:

Justice shall be administered in courts established by law by judges appointed in the manner provided by this Constitution, and, save in such special and limited cases as may be prescribed by law, shall be administered in public.

Because of this article, we must create a constitutional provision to permit our participation in a court other than the courts as established under our Constitution. The agreement on the Unified Patent Court was signed by 25 member states and Ireland is a signatory to the UPCA. Poland, Croatia and Spain are not currently signatories. That may evolve in time. We recognise that the UPC and the UPCA are seen as significant advancements in the management and protection of intellectual property rights but the area remains complex. As with any change, uncertainty will always abound and in the member states where large international IP issues are uncommon, there are valid questions. However, given Ireland's globally significant tech, pharma, bioscience and medtech sectors, participation in the UPC is vital.

As questions arise as to the status of the UPCA as being a court common to contracting member states, or an EU court, become settled we must monitor and assist SMEs and individuals to navigate their way around this new regime. This will ensure it is not merely large multinationals capable of hiring expensive top legal firms to handle their IP that will benefit but that the protection of intellectual property is practically and procedurally available to all who seek it.

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