30/11/2017 (Agence Europe) – During a press conference at the end of the first day of the Competitiveness Council on Thursday 30 November, the Commissioner for the Internal Market and Industry, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, regretted the persisting blockage on the ratification of the protocol for the provisional application of the unitary patent. Germany, where the Constitutional Court still has to rule on a complaint lodged against the unitary patent project, is the source of this blockage. The ruling should have been made during the spring, explained the Commissioner. She indicated, on the other hand, that the ratification process in the United Kingdom was going well. Ms Bieńkowska is hoping for a possible positive result under the Bulgarian Presidency. One diplomatic source recently informed EUROPE that the ratification process could be concluded next February. (PH)