- Intellectual Property in Italy: Definition and Statistics
- The Challenges of Registering and Protecting Trademarks and Patents in Italy from Abroad
- Italian Legislation on Intellectual Property
- Institutions and Offices
- The Importance of Choosing an Italian Attorney: J&P’s Case History
- A Focus on Registered Community Design
What are the types of IP?
Patent
A patent refers to the IP rights given to the owner of an invention (Citazione 3). This enables the owner to prevent others from making, selling, using, importing and/or exporting a good or service that is based on the invention. There are three types of patents that can be granted:
Utility – machines, products, processes or chemicals. It may also be granted for improvements to inventions. This is the most common patent.
Design – forms, objects, patterns, configurations, and other visual appearance characteristics. This only protects visual, not functional aspects of an invention.
Plants – invention or production of new plant species or varieties.
Patent applications and in force have been steadily increasing in Italy over the past decade. The number of applications from abroad has increased by over 50% and the number granted has doubled during the same time, showing increased success for foreign applicants. This can be attributed to the growing desire for foreign investment in Italy as government agencies and IP attorneys continue to equip themselves to help foreign entities through the patent application process.
Trademark
A trademark is a word, symbol, phrase or design that provides a distinguishing characteristic to a good. Trademarks are used to protect creative brand assets, such as product names, but they are also important to help the consumer to identify a good as authentic.
The term trademark is also used to refer to service marks, which specifically deal with characteristics that identify the source of a service. Some examples of trademarks and service marks include logos, slogans or brand names.
According to the WIPO, the number of filings for trademarks in Italy has nearly doubled over the past 10 years. This has made it particularly challenging for applicants as the classification system has also grown significantly, which means applications require strong knowledge of the relevant classes pertaining to a particular trademark or set of trademarks.
Copyright
A copyright refers to the original work of an artist, author or composer. These works are usually creative, such as art, literature, and songs. However, it also includes original technology, such as software code. It is more difficult to receive a copyright than other types of IP rights as it must be proven that the work is original and artistic in nature.
Copyrighted works are protected for the lifetime of the original creator, plus 70 years after their death. If the work was created anonymously, the right expires 95 years after the initial publication date or 120 years after it was created, depending on which is the shortest period of time.
Trade Secrets
A trade secret is confidential information that provides a business with a competitive edge in its industry. It is generally considered as a manufacturing, industrial or commercial asset. Some examples of trade secrets are sales and distribution methods, marketing strategies, supplier and clients lists, buyer personas, and manufacturing processes.
Trade secrets may have an unlimited period of protection. However, it can be more difficult to obtain protection for them as they must comply with strict standards and some of these can vary between different countries. A local IP attorney will be able to provide better insights into what is required for a specific country or region.
One of the main differences between intellectual property law in Italy and other countries is the level of protection for different forms of IP. For instance, protection for trade secrets has always been strong for IP holders in Italy. Given its history in artisanal industries, Italian law has provided the highest levels of trade secret protection for artists and creators.
4. Institutions and Offices
The main institution for dealing with applications and filings in Italy is the Italian Patents and Trademarks Office, which provides all information related to applications for patents, trademarks, and designs in Italy. This includes any required forms or fees during the process. While the website provides some information in English, it is not fully comprehensive. Some information may only be available in Italian and other information may only available through contacts in the office. Local IP firms, especially those with offices in Rome, maintain daily face-to-face contact with the office to remain informed with the most recent information.
The Directorate General for the Fight Against Counterfeiting is an administrative arm of the Italian Patent and Trademark Office that works to prevent the counterfeiting of goods. It operates nationally and internationally to develop anti-counterfeiting methods against online and offline counterfeit merchants.
Espacenet is a free-to-access database of over 100 million patents providing information to conduct research in Europe, the US and many other international locations. It has been developed in cooperation with the European Patent Office. However, this Italian website is only available in Italian and does not always provide full patent texts.
5. The Importance of Choosing an Italian Attorney: J&P’s Case History
Jacobacci & Partners was established over 140 years ago and they have since become the leading providers of patent lawyers and trademark attorneys in Italy. For the past 8 years in a row, they have been recognized as one of the “World’s Leading Professionals” as a “Highly Recommended IP Firm” by the World Trademark Review. Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) has also ranked Jacobacci & Partners as a top tier firm for managing patents and trademarks in Italy.
The team has worked with over 10,000 clients in multiple industries and business sizes. They have managed over 100,000 patents and 100,000 trademarks for over half of the 100 top brands in the world. Over 55% of Jacobacci & Partners’ clients are based outside Italy, so many of their patent lawyers and trademark attorneys are equipped to deal with IP management requirements in the global market. They also provide top tier local support for Italy with access to a network of local contacts and resources that deliver best-in-class results for their clients.