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On February 19, Poland and several other EU countries were due to sign new patent regulations introducing a unitary patent across the bloc. After initially declaring its support for the new legislation, Polish officials now say they will not sign it.

The decision was announced after a meeting between government officials and Polish business representatives. “It doesn’t mean that Poland will never sign the unitary patent agreement,” Jacek Świeca from the Business Centre Club told Gazeta Wyborcza. “We’ve decided that we will observe how it will work in other countries and after analysis, we’ll talk about further decisions on this matter.”

Polish businesspeople and employers have been arguing for months that the unitary patent will have a negative effect on Poland’s economy.

Their main concern is that businesses would be dragged into complicated patent litigation trials that would take place outside Poland and in a foreign language. It could also mean an influx of foreign patents being registered in Poland. On the other hand, Poland’s economy isn’t very innovative (23rd in the EU, according to a 2012 EC report) and doesn’t have many patents that would be eligible in other EU countries.

According to a study performed by Deloitte for the Polish government, implementing the unitary patent would cost Polish companies zł.76 billion over the next 30 years, while sticking to the current rules will cost only zł.48 billion. The higher costs for implementing the unitary patent would stem from legal procedures as companies try to make sure they aren’t infringing on others’ intellectual property.

The proposed unitary process would, in theory, simplify the patent legislation. A patent granted in one EU member state would apply in all others. Italian and Spanish officials have also come out opposing the new regulations.

Jacek Ciesnowski