The Unitary Patent: A Further Step towards Promoting Sustainability through Clean Energy

A new challenge in our society is climate change and finding possible solutions to deal with this global issue. Promoting Clean Energy seems to be the best answer in searching new paths towards sustainability. This trend is reflected in the European Union policies, in the package "Clean Energy for All Europeans", a proposal of the European Commission containing a new vision regarding the energy policy, based on an Energy Union. A key element of this package is the promotion of renewable energy for a cleaner and healthier environment. Innovation is necessary in order to find new solutions for a better environment management, suitable to a sustainable development of the sector energy and climate change. In this context, green intellectual capital seems to be an important intangible asset of a company, ensuring an important competitive advantage on the market. In order to build a common harmonized framework for developing sustainable technologies, the solution of a Unitary Patent was drafted and debated at European Union level. It started as a very ambitious initiative, but it proved to be difficult to implement due to the concerns of the German Constitutional Court and of the Brexit-context. The present research paper focuses on the role of the Unitary Patent in the promotion of innovation. It analyses current developing patent trends ensuring sustainability trough renewable energies. The present article emphasizes the role of the Unitary Patent in consolidating a common energy market of the European Union, which is created by means of the Energy Union. The legal instruments and provisions for creating such a common market, which are comprised in documents of the package "Clean Energy for All Europeans", are analysed from an interdisciplinary point of view, combining legal issues and aspects of business and economics. Case studies presented in a comparative manner provide an international perspective on the presented research topic.