Region: Italy

A recent decision of the Board of Appeal of the Italian Patent and Trademark Office has introduced a more liberal interpretation of the re-establishment of rights following a missed deadline for filing an Italian translation of a European patent in connection with validation of the patent in Italy.

07 March 2012

In 2003 Italy set up specialised IP divisions at 12 Italian courts. Within the framework of a package of measures introduced to tackle the economic crisis, the new Italian government has now introduced the Business Courts, which will replace the specialised divisions and will also handle certain other matters.

15 February 2012

The Italian Patent and Trademark Office has introduced examination proceedings for those national patent applications for which a search report and a preliminary patentability opinion has already been issued. The new examination stage on the merits of inventions is based on the results of the international search report and the written opinion annexed thereto.

02 November 2011

In a recent decision the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed that the General Court had correctly interpreted Article 8(3) of the Italian Code of Industrial Property, which requires a party to give consent for his or her name to be registered as a Community trademark. The decision is a reminder that the CJEU examines only the application of procedural rules, and not the merits of a dispute.

28 September 2011

To date, private parties can register only second-level domains; they can decide which second-level domain they wish to register in association with a top-level domain selected in a pre-determined list approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. All this will change in 2012, when individuals and companies will be admitted to file applications for new generic top-level domains.

10 August 2011

A study carried out by the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law and recently published by the European Commission may lead to amendments that will affect the Community trademark (CTM) system. Among the wide range of issues reviewed, some of the study's recommendations could lead to major changes in the protection of CTMs.

29 June 2011

For many years Italy has lacked a trademark opposition procedure. Although efforts to introduce such a system have been ongoing for more than five years, implementation finally seems to be close. The forthcoming opposition procedure in Italy will be open immediately to all classes.

13 April 2011

The European Trademark Court of Appeal (First Chamber) found the Greek letter alpha to be registrable as a trademark for goods in Class 33. The court considered that when faced with a word mark consisting of a Greek letter in an up-to-date font and without any graphic element, the principles applicable to word marks, rather than design marks, should be used.

23 February 2011

The European Court of Justice recently issued a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of Articles 14(1) and 14(3) of the EU Community Designs Regulation. The court affirmed that Article 14(1) establishes that the right to the Community design vests in the designer, unless it has been assigned by way of contract.

09 February 2011

In a recent preliminary opinion, the advocate general considered that a prohibition originating from a national Community trademark court was effective throughout the entire European Union, as the Community trademark courts are considered to be specific jurisdictions of the European Union.

10 November 2010