Editing Unitary patent (section)

====Reactions to the failure====
[[Image:ProdiBari.jpg|right|thumb|[[Romano Prodi]] (here on a picture taken in 2006) cited the failure to agree on a Europewide patent as a weak point of his five-year term as [[President of the European Commission]].]]
After the council in March 2004, [[European Commission|EU Commissioner]] [[Frits Bolkestein]] said that "The failure to agree on the Community Patent I am afraid undermines the credibility of the whole enterprise to make Europe the most competitive economy in the world by 2010." Adding:

{{blockquote|It is a mystery to me how Ministers at the so-called 'Competitiveness Council' can keep a straight face when they adopt conclusions for the Spring European Council on making Europe more competitive and yet in the next breath backtrack on the political agreement already reached on the main principles of the Community Patent in March of last year. I can only hope that one day the vested, [[protectionism|protectionist]] interests that stand in the way of agreement on this vital measure will be sidelined by the over-riding importance and interests of European manufacturing industry and Europe's competitiveness. That day has not yet come.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/04/58| title = Commission Press Communique, 12 March 2004, "Results of the Competitiveness Council of Ministers, Brussels, 11 March 2004 Internal Market, Enterprise and Consumer Protection issues"}}</ref>}}

Jonathan Todd, Commission's Internal Market spokesman, declared:
{{blockquote|Normally, after the common political approach, the text of the regulation is agreed very quickly. Instead, some Member States appear to have changed their positions. (...) It is extremely unfortunate that European industry's competitiveness, innovation and R&D are being sacrificed for the sake of preserving narrow vested interests.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://cordis.europa.eu/itt/itt-en/04-3/policy03.htm| title = cordis.europa.eu, ''Patently unclear'', 26 May 2004}}</ref>}}

European Commission President [[Romano Prodi]], asked to evaluate his five-year term, cited as his weak point the failure of many EU governments to implement the "[[Lisbon Agenda]]", agreed in 2001. In particular, he cited the failure to agree on a Europewide patent, or even the languages to be used for such a patent, "because member states did not accept a change in the rules; they were not coherent".<ref>[[The Wall Street Journal]], 25 October 2004</ref>