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Intellectual Property
Italy
The Court of Turin has issued a decision protecting the Italian trademark ERACLIT against use of the trademark HERAKLITH – owned by an Austrian company, but never used as such in Italy – for similar products. The court thus implicitly applied settled EU case law which recognises that similar – or even identical – trademarks belonging to different parties might co-exist in different EU member states.
Within the space of a few months the Italian government has intervened twice on the sensitive issue of patent linkage for generic drugs, through two opposing decrees. The second decree, which provides that generic drugs cannot be reimbursed by the Italian National Health Service (thus making them uncompetitive) until the relevant patent or supplementary protection certificate expires, has been heavily criticised.
An order by the specialist IP division of the Court of Turin to withdraw infringing products from the market has additionally compelled the infringer to buy back the illicit products directly from stores at their retail price. This is the first time in Italy that an order of withdrawal has been extended in this manner, which is consistent with the judicial defence of IP rights under the EU Enforcement Directive.
The president of the IP Division of the Court of Milan has granted protection to a well-known bed design. The 'Nathalie' was created in 1978 and is considered a masterpiece of Italian design. The decision is important because it demonstrates that the Italian courts are no longer prejudiced against the possibility of protecting industrial designs with copyright.
The IP Division of the Court of Milan has issued a landmark decision concerning the protection in Italy of a Swiss protected denomination of origin, 'Emmentaler/Emmental Svizzero'. The court found that the denomination in question should be protected in Italy, although it was not registered at EU level, on the basis of the Stresa Convention 1951.
Dissatisfaction with recovery of damages is a perennial issue for IP stakeholders - and one which is not confined to Italy. However, significant improvements over the past decade have made it easier for rights holders to obtain appropriate damages in clear cases of counterfeiting.
