Tomorrow the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, and the Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, will officially open the Milan section of the Central Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), an element of strong Italian presence in the EU system for the activity of companies and especially for innovation. Foreign Minister Tajani said: “The European average of unitary patent applications is growing. The number of Italian applications is higher than the European average, and this is the real success. The presence of the UPC in Milan has already accelerated a virtuous cycle in our companies, which strengthens the ability of the Italian industrial system to carry out research and think about the future”. On the eve of the official opening of the Milan section of the UPC Central Division, with the daily Il Sole 24 Ore Minister Tajani retraced a decisive political and diplomatic challenge.
An action developed in the aftermath of Brexit, when it was necessary to reassign the branch of the Court of First Instance based in London.
While retracing the journey that began years ago, MinisterTtajani said: “After a long campaign, coordinated by the Foreign Ministry, together with the Ministry of Justice and MiMIT, on 26 June 2023 the UPC Administrative Committee unanimously decided to establish a section of the Central Division in Milan, ten years after the agreement had been signed in February 2013. It allowed for the simultaneous launch of the unitary patent system.” The Milan section has jurisdiction over “class A’ patent litigation, which includes the medical/pharmaceutical, agri-food, phytosanitary, and fashion sectors. Both the Italian UPC “Local Division” and the Italian section of the “Central Division” have therefore been operational in Milan since 1 July.
Minister Tajani recalled that another very important aspect for Italian companies had been finalised in those days: “The new EU sanctions package against Russia, the fourteenth, which focuses on the fight against sanctions avoidance, contains important novelties and has been adopted with Italy’s decisive contribution. Firstly, the package includes measures that will enable companies to turn to the European courts to have compensation for damage suffered as a result of measures taken against them, either under EU sanctions or as retaliation by Russia. Secondly, another result in line with our priorities is the inclusion of measures to protect our jewellery industry and an exemption that will enable compatriots who provide specific services to European companies working in Russia to continue to operate. All this, in a context of growing problems for our economic operators still active in Russia. For this reason, the “’Russia Table” for Italian companies remains active at the Foreign Ministry, with which the government intends to protect the work of our companies still operating in that country, in accordance with the EU’s +10.7% sanctions framework”.
The Foreign Minister recalled that all those were pieces of economic diplomacy and foreign trade and the data confirms that things are going well: “There is a generalised increase in Italian exports: +10.7% in value and +7.9% in volume compared to April 2023. In the first four months of 2024 there was a positive trade balance of +17.6 billion euros (compared to the surplus of +1.5 billion recorded in the first four months of 2023). These positive results are possible thanks to our companies’ incredible dynamism, but constant action is also taken by the government to strengthen the presence of the Italian production system abroad. Support for the internationalisation of the Italian entrepreneurial system is at the heart of the Foreign Ministry’s action, through “Growth Diplomacy”, a strategy implemented since the beginning of my mandate.” The Minister added: “In December we will organise in Milan the so-called Stati Generali dell’esportazione, the annual event on Italian exports organised by the Foreign Ministry. We will make it coincide with the Conference of Italian Ambassadors in the World. Representatives of companies and diplomats in the world will be brought together: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is increasingly also the Ministry of Foreign Trade”.
We incidentally commented on the election of Ilaria Salis to the European Parliament, a militant of a movement that has squatted houses in Lombardy and still claims, with public statements, this type of action: “I wish Ms.Salis good work, but I cannot help but ask myself some questions about the choices of her group, such as squatting council houses, violating the property of the State or possibly of private citizens. For Forza Italia housing is sacred, and home ownership remains linked to the basic rights of Italian citizens, to the work of families, of parents who break their backs to build a future for their children. As long as we are in government, we will never favour property taxes or new taxes on housing. It is wrong to act as the groups that squat and favour illegal occupations do. On the issue of housing, social housing, and student accommodation Forza Italia will certainly work to provide more effective responses to Italian citizens.” The Minister recalled his proposal to support the purchase of a first home for all young Italians up to 36 years of age and with an ISEE up to 40,000 euros, through an increased tax allowance from 19% to 50% on first home mortgages.
Reverting to international trade, the Minister recalled that in the first months of the year, economic partnership initiatives and events were held with China, India, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Romania, Argentina and the first ‘Italy-Africa Business Forum’ was organized. He said: “I am returning to Italy from Croatia, and with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic we have decided to organise a business forum for our countries’ companies. Everywhere, the goal is to support the Italian production sector and encourage new business opportunities towards geographical areas and priority countries for our companies, as well as to create development and jobs.”
