The Italian question: concerns about the unitary patent

The need for a common, Unitary Patent (UP) system has been felt by European countries since the 1960s; the goal was partially met with the establishment of the European Patent Office (EPO) in the 1970s, which centralised the patent procedure up to grant among 38 countries in the European area. The European patent granted by the EPO is not a unitary title, however, but yields a bundle of national patents to be litigated before corresponding national courts.