| Anything
entailing a creative activity and allowing
industrial implementation can be patented.
The main patent categories are the following:
industrial inventions
industrial models (utility
models and ornamental models and designs)
new vegetal varieties
trademarks
collective trademarks
Patents for industrial inventions concern
something entailing more profitable industrial
results than the previously obtained one,
whereas patents for industrial models
concern new arrangements and, thence,
a better use of pre-existing machines,
tools, etc., or new ornaments for some
industrial products.
Trademarks consist of new words, pictures
or signs aiming at marking manufactured
or marketed products or goods, or services
provided on the account of third parties.
Patent rights are substantiated in the
power to exclusively implement any invention
or model and make profits out of it, or
to exclusively use a brand and apply to
the court against those who try to contend
or to encroach this right.
Patent applications must be filed to the
Italian Patent and Trademark Office and
to the Chambers of Commerce. As from November
2003, the latter launched the testing
phase of the application computerised
transmission procedure through digital
signature. The Chambers Office task consists
in drawing up the minutes on a suitable
register, signed by the applicant and
undersigned by the Chambers officer in
his quality as a party to a notarial deed.
Said minutes must contain, among other
things, the application date, the name
and domicile of the applicant and of his/her
agent, the title of the industrial invention
or industrial model or the enterprise
trademark, and the documents produced.
A copy of the minutes, together with the
application and documents, are sent to
the Italian patent and trademark office
for additional formalities and registration,
whereas another copy is issued, upon request,
to the applicant. After examining the
patent application and minutes drawn up
by the Chamber of Commerce, the Italian
patent and trademark office issues a patent
certificate.
As a protection of the owner, the patent
transcription in the Patent Register is
made in order to guarantee the title of
the right itself, since any change in
the title must be registered. In fact,
in the event of a patent ownership transfer,
or should any ownership change occur,
the assignee must either personally or
through an agent, file the transcription
note to the Chamber of Commerce or to
the Italian patent and trademark office;
it shall be drawn up in duplicate, on
stamped paper, signed by the assignee
or his/her agent.
Said note must contain the names, nationality
and domicile of the assignor and assignee,
the date, the nature of the title that
is intended to be transcribed and, for
public deeds, the name of the notary that
received it; it shall also indicate the
reference number of the registration of
the title at the Registry and the statement
of rights, including the number and date
of the patent, trademark or model. If
the deed to be transcribed relates to
several patents, trademarks or models,
the same number of samples in unstamped
paper must be presented for each patent,
trademark or model besides the first one.
For transcriptions by succession, the
owner death certificate and the certificate
of succession notification must be produced.
Should the rights concerning patents,
models and trademarks be simultaneously
transferred with one title, separate transcriptions
must be requested by producing copies
in unstamped paper of the sole title,
together with all the above-mentioned
documents.
The documents drawn up in other languages
must complemented by the Italian version,
certified and authenticated before the
relevant Italian authorities.
Patents
for Industrial Inventions
Patent applications for industrial inventions,
made on stamped paper, signed by their
inventors or agents, must be filed with
the Chamber of Commerce or directly mailed
to the Italian patent and trademark office.
In the first case, the Chamber sends the
documents received to the central office,
together with three copies of the minutes
drawn up on filing.
The aforesaid application must contain:
tlhe name, surname, nationality and domicile
of the applicant and his/her agent and,
if any; registered office and full name
if it is either a company or a non-profit
corporation;
the title of the invention in such a way
to briefly and precisely express its nature
and purpose, without any specific name.
The following documents shall be enclosed
to the application:
the summary, main drawing and description
of the invention;
the power of attorney (either special
or general) or the letter of appointment,
if any agent was appointed;
the certificate of the excise licence
duty paid through post office checking
account;
the certificate of payment of secretarial
fees on post office checking account;
a revenue stamp to be put on the patent
certificate (another revenue stamp must
be enclosed in case a copy of the minutes
is requested).
The duration of any invention patent is
20 years as of the date of application
filing. The industrial invention title
protection can be requested either for
the Italian territory alone (national
patent) or for the whole EU territory
(community trademark), namely all European
countries which signed the Munich Convention
of 5 October 1973 (European Patents).
European
Patents concern industrial inventions
and are take effect after a filing, examination
and issuing unified procedure is carried
out, allowing obtaining patents in the
Member States of the European Organisation
for the patents indicated by the applicant.
The 20 member countries are the following:
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italia,
Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Principality of Monaco, United
Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey.
The law provides for the extension of
European patent protection to other Countries
authorising extension in their territory.
This procedure is possible in: Albania,
Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Slovenia,
former Republic of Yugoslavia, and Macedonia.
In order to obtain a European patent,
an application must be filed with the
European Patent Office in Munich, The
Hague or Berlin, or with the national
Patent Offices of the signatory countries.
In Italy, documents must be produced at
the Chambers of Commerce, or mailed to
the Italian patent and trademark office.
Patent rights can also be
exercised in other countries which are
not included in the above-mentioned geographical
areas, provided that the relevant patent
application is filed with the office dealing
with that foreign country, in compliance
with the provisions in force in said nation.
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Industrial
Models
Industrial models are divided into utility
models and ornamental models and designs.
The first ones are those aiming at conferring
particular effectiveness or convenience
for application or use to machines, tools,
equipment, and pre-existing objects.
The second ones are suitable to provide
some industrial products with special
ornaments, in terms of form, and for a
particular combination of line, colours
or other elements. In both cases, almost
as for industrial inventions, an application
signed by the author or his/her agent
must be filed with the Chamber of Commerce
or directly at the Italian patent and
trademark office.
Such application must contain the following
informatio:
for natural persons, the name, surname,
nationality and domicile of the applicant
and of his/her agent and the registered
office, if any, together with full name
if it is either a company or a non-profit
corporation;
the title or drawing of the model in such
a way to briefly and precisely express
its nature and purpose; said title shall
not show any special name, nor the name
of the applicant;
the type of model (utility model, ornamental
design or model, series of models or ornamental
designs.
Said application shall be complemented
by the following documents: the description
of the model; drawings; a power of attorney
or letter of appointment, if the application
is signed by an agent; the certificate
of the excise licence duty paid through
post office checking account; a certificate
showing the payment of secretarial fees.
For the above-mentioned documents, the
same rules enforced for the documents
concerning the industrial patent application
apply.
The duration of the utility model patent
is 10 years as of the date of deposit
of application, whereas the duration of
the ornamental design and model is 15
years.
.
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New
vegetal varieties
A new vegetal variety is a stable and
homogeneous vegetal variety, different
from the already existing ones. Patent
applications must be filed with the Chamber
of Commerce, either directly or trough
postal service or any other suitable mean.
Applications must include: the name with
which the applicant intends to identify
the new product, in compliance with legal
requirements; any useful element for application
examination purposes, besides any other
document envisaged for all types of inventions;
a statement attesting the invention novelty
and any right of third parties. Thirty
days after the application is filed, the
aforesaid documents can be accesses, and
whoever is interested, can make remarks
to the applicant opposing eventual counter-deductions.
A copy of the application is sent to the
Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry
that carries out the relevant technical
inspections. The outcome of such examinations
is submitted to an interdepartmental Commission
for advise. Said advise is binding for
the issuing or the refusal to issue the
patent.
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Trademarks
A trademark is a sign, picture or word,
suitable to mark specific manufactured
or marketed goods. According to a doctrinaire
classification, a trademark is weak if
made up of a sign or a word showing absolutely
no relevant features; it is normal if
it shows a few features differentiating
the protected goods from other similar
ones; while strong trademarks must show
original and appealing characteristics
that for consumers, to the extent that
such features differentiate protected
goods from other similar ones, thus allowing
their identification by customers.
To obtain the registration of a trademark,
a stamped application must be filed with
the Chamber of Commerce, or directly with
the Italian patent and trademark office;
such application must contain, for natural
persons, applicants’ names, nationality
and domicile and, for companies, associations
or non-profit corporations, company title
and office address. In the event that
an agent has been selected, the same information
requested for the applicant must be included.
Moreover, an application must include
a brief description of the trademark main
features and the indication of the type
of products or goods such trademark has
to mark .
The following documents must be enclosed
to the application:
the protection statement in triplicate,
signed either by the applicant or agent;
the certificates of payment of the excise
licence duty and secretarial fees;
the list of products or services to be
marked;
the trademark facsimile, in 15 specimen,
in the colours to be registered, or in
black and should no colour be registered;
a revenue stamp for the issuing of the
patent certificate.
Payment of excise licence duties must
take place through post office checking
account. Registration lasts 10 years and
is renewable.
Community
trademarks are valid throughout the territory
of the European Union and are registered
in the relevant Register kept by the Office
for Harmonisation in the Internal Market
(OHIM), based in Alicante, Spain,. The
OHIM provides application forms, which
are available at the Chambers of Commerce
and at the Italian patent and trademark
office. Any community trademark is registered
for 10 years; registration is renewable
ad infinitum.
At an international
level, a trademark offers protection in
the 67 countries joining the Madrid Union.
A single application must be filed. Moreover,
applicant must own an identical Italian
trademark or have filed a registration
application for it. T he Chambers of Commerce
are the competent authorities receiving
international registration applications.
The following documents must be enclosed
to all applications:
the MM1 form provided by the WIPO (World
Intellectual Property Organisation);
the power of attorney or letter of appointment
(if any);
a copy of the trademark, identical to
the national trademark;
a colour copy, if an applicant claims
one or more colours as a distinctive sign;
the receipt of the payment of the excise
licence duty;
the receipt of payment of international
fees to the Geneva WIPO.
A trademark
lapses if it is not really used by the
owner; moreover, with the owner’s
consent, any trademark relating to the
products or services for which it was
registered lapses after 5 years of registration.
A trademark also lapses if it is not utilised
for at least 5 years in a row, unless
such non-use is duly justified.
A trademark can be transferred or be the
object of a licence, including non-exclusive
licenses, for all or part of the products
or services for which it was registered
.
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Collective
Trademarks
Organisations and legally established
associations aiming at guaranteeing the
origin, nature or quality of specific
products or goods, can obtain trademark
patents, including collective trademarks,
and are entitled to grant the use of such
trademarks to manufacturers or dealers
that are members of said organisations
or associations.
In order to obtain a collective trademark
patent certificate, the relevant organisation
or association, through its own legal
representative or a third party, must
produce a copy of Articles of Association
concerning the use of collective trademarks
and the relating penalties, and a certificate
attesting the payment of all relevant
taxes. Moreover, it has to produce all
other documents required for ordinary
trademarks.
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