Italy: latest changes to the Industrial Property Code

The most recent updates and changes to the Industrial Property Code concerning trademarks and patents 9 April 2019

There have been some recent changes to the Italian Industrial Property Code (IPC). In fact, on the 23 and 27 March 2019 respectively, legislative decrees n. 15 of 20 February 2019 and n. 18 of 19 February 2019 came into force. Both have brought about significant changes to the provisions of the IPC – let’s find out what these are.

Unitary Patent
With regard to patent protection, reference should be made to the rules “to adapt, coordinate and reconcile national legislation to the provisions of (EU) Regulation No. 1257/2012 of the European Parliament and Council, of December 17, 2012, concerning the implementation of enhanced cooperation in the area of establishing unitary patent protection, and the provisions of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, ratified and enacted pursuant to Law No. 214 of 3 November 2016”.

Although the decree introduces the necessary rules to implement the Agreement on the Unified Patent Court, establishing a common jurisdiction for all participating countries with exclusive jurisdiction over various actions, at the moment the Unitary Patent – in practice – has not come into force and there is no certainty as to when the Unified Court, and therefore the Unitary Patent itself, will come into force.

Trademarks
Reference should made to the “Implementation of Directive (EU) 2015/2436 of the European Parliament and Council of 16 December 2015, on the harmonization of the laws of member states in the field of company trademarks as well as for the alignment of national legislation to the provisions of (EU) Regulation 2015/2424 of the European Parliament and Council of 16 December 2015, amending the regulation on the Community trademark”.

Thanks to the implementation of the European directive, important legislative changes are in effect. Changes ranging from the protection of PDO and PGI certifications, names of wines and plant varieties, to the introduction of the certification marks that allow to register the trademarks of the bodies that certify the origin, quality or nature of certain products.

These changes are also important with regard to the fight against infringement and customs surveillance.

To get more information, download our infographic with the main changes made to the Italian IP code in the field of trademarks: