On 2 May 2023, the Italian Senate passed the bill (“Bill”) amending the Italian Industrial Property Code (“Code”). The Bill consists of 32 articles and sets forth relevant amendments to the previous version of the Code, including new regulations of the lawfulness of the registration of trademarks, the temporal protection of designs or models and administrative procedures. Among other things, by amending Article 65 of the Code, the Bill introduces a new discipline with respect to inventions by researchers in universities, public research institutions and scientifically-oriented institutions for hospitalisation and care (“Institutions”), providing that the Institutions shall be the sole owners of the rights resulting from the patentable inventions. The proposed amendment to Article 59 of the Code provides that in the case of cumulative protections of an Italian patent and a European patent, the effects of the Italian patent shall not cease. The Bill will now have to be approved by the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
Originally published by May, 2023
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