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Industrial property rights derive from the registration of a trademark, model, drawing or domain name. Protection of the company and sign is also strengthened by industrial property regulations, thanks to the principle of the unity of distinctive signs, in other words those "signs" which allow the provenance of a product or service to be identified with a particular producer and/or supplier.

Invention patents, patents for new vegetable varieties and patents for models of use are industrial sole-rights that are obtained by filing a patent. Regulations regarding the aforementioned titles, together with the know-how, are contained in the Italian Code of Industrial Property (legislative decree 10 February 2005 n° 30), which brought together under a single law the individual regulations previously governing industrial property rights.

Industrial property and copyright together form intellectual property. However, while the UIBM (Italian Patents and Trademarks Office) depends on the Ministry of Productive Activities, copyright is regulated by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

Copyright, protected geographical indications and regulations on unfair competition are aspects which may interfere with industrial property regulations, which is why we carefully check all the requisites at the moment of registration or filing a patent.

In these pages you will find our firm's main services in the field of patents, trademarks, models and drawings. For any further information or service you may require, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Trademarks

The history of mankind passes through the symbol, and takes place in the space between signified and signifier. Every sign can become a symbol for anything, if it is given meaning, and human life is full of religious, esoteric and political symbols.

Symbols are real codes of language that transmit precise values, ideologies and messages, for those who know how to read and interpret them. The world of commerce also has its own symbols, and the most important is the trademark. It has a particular meaning, or rather it identifies a precise product or service, as well as a certain source, i.e. its producer or supplier.

As a special distinctive sign, alongside the company, the sign, the company name and the company domain name, the trademark protects both the owner of its rights and the consumer: it confers exclusive rights on those who register it, in other words the power to forbid third parties from using other distinctive signs for identical or similar products which may be confused with it, as well as providing a guarantee for the consumer, who is able to identify the commercial provenance of a product through its trademark.

Protecting your activity with a trademark is of primary importance, since it has the same function as a proper name for those who have registered and use it. The trademark allows you to identify your activity or products internationally. Before registering a sign it is important to verify if it may be used as a "trademark", since not every sign has this potential. Moreover, we sincerely advise you to perform a precedence search before registering a sign, in order to verify that there do not exist any previously registered signs, which could compromise the validity of your trademark. The trademark may be national, valid for the European Union, or international.

For further information on the latter, we suggest you visit the following web sites:

UAMI
WIPO

Invention patent

The title that protects and makes an invention exclusive is the patent. It confers on its owner a 20-year monopoly, during which time he may exploit the invention exclusively.

The patent, albeit limited in time, satisfies two needs at the same time: granting the owner a fair opportunity to exploit it, economically or otherwise, expressed in a monopoly of exclusive rights over the invention and in wide-ranging legal protection, and, on the other hand, in limiting duration to 20 years, so that the invention sooner or later will become the property of mankind as a whole. Patents may be of various kinds, such as mechanic, chemical, pharmacological, telecommunications or electronic, as well as covering biotechnologies and new vegetable varieties.

The inventions subject to patent must be absolutely new, and before proceeding with registration suitable precedence searches should be carried out. Moreover, the subject of the patent must not be disclosed before registration, otherwise you run the risk of the invention being made accessible to the public and becoming part of the state of the art, thus removing its innovative status. In the light of this, if you wish to extend the patent internationally, this should take place in the priority period, since the first registration will make the invention known, and prevent its patentability abroad.

Moreover, patents may be subject to international extensions, such as the European patent or the PCT. For further information, visit the following Internet sites:

EPO
WIPO

Utility models and designs

The "design or model" confers particular protection to the appearance of a product, which has "individual" characteristics. Registration for design or model is aimed at protecting, among others, the products of "design", fashion creations, special typographical characters and web design. The design or model may be multiple, and a single registration may in some cases include a number of versions of the same object.

The design or model may be valid nationally, for the European Union or internationally. Each type has particular characteristics, satisfying different needs of territorial cover. Since absolute innovation is required for the design or model, the product for which you intend to obtain registration should not be disclosed before filing the relative application. For the same reason, if you desire to extend the registration of a design or model abroad, it should be done in the brief so-called "period of grace". Once this period expires, the product is considered as having become part of the state of the art, and may not be registered abroad.

Patents for industrial models represent an innovation of some "thing" which already exists, but which is made more "useful". Examples include a handle, which allows a utensil to be gripped more firmly, or a tyre tread, which is more adherent to the ground. If the innovation also displays individual aesthetic characteristics, in addition to technical characteristics, the protection may be twofold, combining two distinct sole-rights, in other words: a registration for drawing and model and one for patent of model of use. While the first will protect the product's appearance, the second will protect its technical function. The model of use is applicable in all sectors and guarantees protection in the same way as a patent, since even though its subject does not have the same status as an invention, it nevertheless represents an innovation.

This subtle but important difference determines whether an object constitutes an invention patent or model of use; a choice that must be assessed case by case, above all in the light of the state of the art, or in other words of what already exists. The model of use can be extended, although only nationally, i.e. by filing patents in individual countries. Moreover, absolute innovation is also required for the model of use, so we ask you to follow the same precautions as for drawing and model.

Research

"Prevention is better than cure", even if we are talking about the "health" of industrial property rights. Albeit with partial distinctions, patents, models, drawings and trademarks all require the requisite of innovation to be valid. The "life" of the aforementioned sole-rights also depends on the existence of similar previous rights, which may cause them to be null and void, for example following refusal, opposition or even legal action.

Before protecting your rights with a patent for a registration, we strongly advise you to carry out a search. Our firm provides various search services: above all in the sector of patents, trademarks, drawings, models, domain names and company names.

Surveillance

Tolerance is not always a virtue, especially if it involves the loss of rights.The surveillance service allows you to find any counterfeiting of your trademarks, such as new filings made by third parties of trademarks similar to or confusable with yours, or the registration of domain names similar to your distinctive signs. The reporting of third-party distinctive signs, which counterfeit yours, allows you to react quickly to protect your rights, and thus not lose your exclusive rights due to protracted tolerance of a third-party sign.

Moreover, the tolerance of third-party trademarks or other distinctive signs similar to those used or registered by you, causes your sign to be "watered down", significantly diminishing its distinctive function and impact, and thus causing its devaluation.

Geographical indications and collective marks

The acronyms PDO, PGI, STG, DOC, DOCG, ICT identify food products from particular areas, whose geographical designation is protected. The authorities with the job of granting such certifications are the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry or the European Union.

Although the function of these acronyms is not that of "branding" a product, they do partially influence trademarks, not least because it is forbidden to register protected geographical designations as company trademarks, and also due to the fact that in some ways their purpose is similar to that of collective trademarks. These acronyms identify the product as "characteristic" of a certain area, and allow the producer who complies with the production regulations to place the acronym granted to it on his own products.

The collective trademark is distinguished from geographical indications for various reasons, although it also has to its own regulations of use. Unlike individual trademarks, collective trademarks may indicate provenance, and their registration can be obtained by subjects who "perform the function of guaranteeing the origin, nature or quality of certain products or services."

Domain names

After an initial period of uncertainty, domain names now seem to belong without doubt to the range of distinctive signs. Generic domain names, such as ".com" or ".int", may be obtained by anyone, in compliance with registration rules.

For geografical domain names, the so-called "country codes" (". it", ". de", ". fr"), many countries continue to require that the applicant has registered offices and/or is resident in the territory relative to the suffix (e.g. ".sg" for Singapore). To obtain domain names in such countries, it is possible to contact local agents, who will transfer usage rights to the interested party.

In the event of a third party usurping your trademark or your distinctive sign, by registering it as a domain name, it is possible to repossess the domain name, by means of legal action or through an administrative procedure, applying directly to the authorities in charge of the protection of domain names.

For example, it is possible to obtain the re-assignation of a domain name user, by means of a special procedure at the international arbitration centre of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Annotations, transcriptions and licences

The owner of an industrial sole-right may change name, in the sense of company name, or in order to ensure continued validity of the titles held. The change of the holder of an industrial sole-right, due, for example, to surrender, inheritance or merger, must also be registered in the public registers.

There are various methods used for the individual annotations and/or transcriptions of the various documents, so you should always verify which operation you are dealing with.A licence is a contract under which rights relative to your industrial sole-right are granted to a third-party.

A peculiarity of the licence regards the company trademark, which must be used in order not to become invalid. Failure to use it causes forfeiture of the trademark in almost every country, albeit with differences regarding the concept of "time" and "use". In fact, the trademark is not forfeited if it is used by its holder or with his consent. In many countries it is sufficient for consent to be tacit, or presumable on the basis of the relations between the trademark holder and its user. In other countries, meanwhile, consent must be expressed in writing, by granting a licence, which in many states must then be transcribed in the public registers. In many cases, transcription alone allows the licensee's use of the trademark to be attributed to its holder, safeguarding the trademark from forfeiture due to non-use.