You can find all the information of Italy about trademarks, patents, utility models, copyrights, registered designs, and all other IP rights.

 

Step numberStep corresponding information
step 1

 Prepare the application document which include:

– information identifying the applicant and any attorney.

– information containing an indication of the design as a title and eventually the product features to which it is intended to be applied.

– representation of the design by drawings, which may be replaced by photographic reproductions or by samples:

– a design description, if needed, to understand the design itself:

– documentation concerning the representative appointment if the applicant has appointed one.

The duration of the right lasts for 5 years from the date of filing renewable for other four terms of 5 years, up to a maximum of 25 years.

step 2

 Submitting an application:

Prepare and file the design application form “Domanda di Registrazione di Disegno o Modello – Modulo O” (Registration for design or model filing form O): – more detailed instructions at the following links: http://www.uibm.gov.it/index.php/la-modulistica – with all the requested attachments in five copies including the original one. The application must be presented in any of the Italian Chambers of Commerce or directly sent to the Directorate General for the Fight against Counterfeiting- Italian Patent and Trademark Office (DGLC-UIBM) by registered postal service (address: via Molise, 19 – 00187 ROMA-ITALY)

Applications can be made in any language but an Italian translation must be provided.

e-filing for application has been available since 2006. It can be made through the TELEMACO SERVICE: http://webtelemaco.infocamere.it/newt/public.htm

step 3The DGLC-UIBM will send you a receipt containing the official file number and the filing date of your application. If you have appointed a representative, the receipt will be sent to your representative.
step 4

 Examination:

Upon receipt of the filing and publication fees, we will examine your application to see if it meets the formal requirements, and also carry out a check whether it may be protected, on principle, by a design right.

step 4

 Granting of the design:

If the application complies with the requirements, and defects, if any, have been remedied, and if the design is eligible for registration, it will be entered in the Designs Register

 

StepFees (€)Comments
Standard Filling FeesSingle100Single design or model in paper form
Collective200Multiple design or model in paper form
Filling Fees with reduced feesSingle50Single design or model in electronic form
Collective100Multiple design or model in electronic form

 

The Italian Industrial Property Code deals with the registered designs in art. 31 and following ones

 

Art.31 Object of the registration

The registration protects the appearance of a product, referring to lines, colors, shape or material but there are no specific aesthetic requirements as long as they are new. Multiple designs allowed in one application provided products are in the same class without upper limit for number of designs.

 

Art.34 Divulgation

There is no period of secrecy, except upon a request by the applicant in order to forbid the accessibility, for a maximum of 12 months from the date of filing or the date of priority. The application shall contain (…).

 

Art. 36 Technical function

It is not possible to register as a design/model those features which concern the product look that are uniquely determined by the technical function. Also those features that must be necessarily reproduced for the product to be incorporated or connected to another part of a machine cannot be registered as a design/model unless they are extremely new and have unique characteristics.

The utility models protect the functional appearance, while models and designs protect just the formal appearance. In practice, the same form can be protected by utility model and design at the same time. In this case, with reference to the same object, the law allows to apply for at the same time, and grant both utility model and design. A design or a model protected may also be eligible for protection under the law of copyright, but only for designs which meet two further requirements: creative character and artistic value. This is a derogation from the general rules for copyright which does not require a specific artistic value of a work. In this case, the validity of the protection is 70 years after the author’s death, as per general copyright rules.

 

All information about costs/fees can be found at the following link: http://www.uibm.gov.it/index.php/disegni-e-modelli/registrare-in-italia/quanto-costa-registrare

 

YearStandard fees (€)Reduced fees (€)Comments
1030  
1550  
2070  
2580