Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I share some of Deputy Naughten's concerns. The issue of a unified patent court has been sloshing around in the Minister's Department since I was a Minister of State, which is now several years ago. In my humble opinion, the proposed wording is very vague. We are in the business of politics and it is the responsibility of the political system to tease out the wording further. Why would anyone vote for the wording as it is constituted at present?

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It gives rise to much confusion.

The other issue, which may have been dealt with in a forum other than this Chamber, is the issue of the status of what I would call "the Six Counties" where patents are derived, innovations are made or patents are filed on foot of co-operation on a North-South basis and a unified effort around the creation of a patent. I can think of an example where, for instance, if a dispute arises, you are in two different jurisdictions. Maybe the Minister of State and his Department officials have already dealt with that possibility but it would be good and useful to hear from the Minister of State in respect of any disputes that might arise on a North-South basis, or where there is a unified approach on a North-South basis when such a dispute arises. What is the status of the two jurisdictions where a dispute is entered into or where a resolution is sought? What is the status of the UPC in that instance? To my mind, that has not been answered comprehensively. If I was to vote on this, until such questions are significantly dealt with, I would be reluctant to try to sell the message of what the Government is trying to achieve here.

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