IP office details
Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi, Molise 19, Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 06470 55 654
Email: info@uibm.gov.it
Website: www.uibm.gov.it
Attorneys drew mixed experiences from 2010 in patent and trade mark prosecution. The broad consensus...
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IP office details
Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi, Molise 19, Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 06470 55 654
Email:
info@uibm.gov.it
Website:
www.uibm.gov.it
Attorneys drew mixed experiences from 2010 in patent and trade mark prosecution. The broad consensus was that patent prosecution work decreased overall, largely a result of what one partner described as "the very deep economic crisis", but trade mark prosecution was buoyed by the Italian fashion market and Milan's chemicals, toys and car industries.
The busy fashion sector and the increased presence of Chinese and Asian companies continue to produce a lot of anti-counterfeiting work. Generally however, firms with more national clients suffered more.
On the contentious side, patent disputes increased and partners pointed the finger in particular at the pharmaceutical industry. "There is an increase in patent litigation and we have around 50 to 70 cases in our firm," says a partner, adding that "there is a good reputation in the pharmaceutical sector with landmark decisions being made and IP case law being mended". Companies such as Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline have recently been actively defending their IP rights.
While pharmaceutical, mechanics and electronics provided stability, a couple of deeper issues were raised by lawyers. "Italian companies are not aware of their IP rights, medium-sized and small companies are not very IP conscious and this is why we are working with universities: the students will be managers in a few years," says one partner. "There is a problem with local trade marks," admits another, "as Chinese companies begin to increase their involvement here local companies will have to better defend their rights".
The IP sector saw a number of changes in 2010, resulting in quicker procedures for protection of rights and better enforcement. There are 12 specialist courts now in Milan, Turin and Rome and the newly implemented EPO rules, which have introduced multi-class applications among other things, although "confusing" and "complicated" according to some attorneys are accepted as a great improvement.
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